Aria
Darkness swallowed her.
Not gentle darkness.
Not sleep.
Not unconsciousness.
A heavy, breathing dark.
Alive.
Watching.
Listening to her pulse.
Aria tried to move, but her limbs felt submerged in warm water. Her heartbeat echoed like a drum inside her ears.
Then a faint golden light flickered.
Not from outside.
From inside her.
The baby.
Aria exhaled shakily. "I am here," she whispered. "I am with you."
The golden light pulsed back.
A response.
A heartbeat inside a heartbeat.
The darkness recoiled.
A faint hiss echoed around her.
And a voice whispered.
You cannot protect her.
She belongs to the blood.
Aria clenched her jaw. "She belongs to me."
A deep laugh curled through the dark.
No, child. You belong to me too.
The ground beneath her shifted. The golden light dimmed. The darkness tightened like a fist.
Aria's breath began to thin.
Her body felt pulled downward, as if something beneath her was dragging her by invisible chains.
