Chapter 26
Chapter 26 — The Weight of Knowing
Kayline, Aldren, and Mireth wake simultaneously to discover their bond has evolved into near-telepathic connection, revealed through synchronized touches and kisses. When Mireth stands, Kayline notices a three-month baby bump on her stomach — a pregnancy conceived through the ritual. Kayline's own breasts have swollen full with milk despite not being pregnant; she can feel the baby's presence in her chest and senses it growing. Aldren, listening to both women's thoughts and bodies, realizes Mireth's healing gift is accelerating the baby's growth at a dangerous rate. With two days until the dark moon, they must find a way to slow the gift before it consumes the child and possibly Mireth herself.
They woke at the same instant.
Not sequentially — not Kayline first because she was the watcher, not Mireth because she was the lightest sleeper, not Aldren because his body had finally surrendered its vigilance. All three. The same breath drawn, the same eyes opened, the same moment seized by three nervous systems that had spent the night synchronizing and now, apparently, couldn't be bothered to wake independently anymore.
The house held the dawn like a cupped hand holds water — carefully, aware that any spill would be wasted. Light filtered through the leather-bound shutters in amber threads, each one falling across the bed at an angle that suggested the house had arranged them deliberately, which of course it had, because the house hadn't done anything accidentally since the second shutter was hung.
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