Chapter 6

I woke to a heartbeat. Not mine — theirs.

Before my mind had even surfaced from the dark, my hands were flat against my belly, counting like a madwoman. One… two…

My breath stopped. Where was the third?

I bolted upright. Black swam across my vision, and something hot and metallic rose in my throat.

"Don't move!" A rasping voice pressed my shoulder down. Elara.

I had no attention to spare for why she was here. I only seized her thin wrist, my voice shaking to pieces. "The third one… my third child, is she—"

Elara didn't answer right away.…