enough to sever the flesh. My hands pushed inside the incision, sobs rocking through me as I removed the lifeless body of her child.
“No,” I whispered, rubbing its stomach, then blowing into its mouth. Wards began to wail in warning, and Erie moved to stand behind me as the clanking sound of swords being drawn to defend echoed through the room. “Come on. You don’t get to go with your mommy. We need you. Your daddy needs you so much,” I pleaded, kissing the babe’s head. It glowed where I kissed it, igniting tiny brands that pulsed before a small cry sounded.
Chaos erupted in the room as I stood, protecting the child in my arms. Turning, I stared over my shoulder at the door where Ryder stood, his gaze locked on the bodies that littered the floor. Ristan pushed through the crowd, stopping short of the corpses.
“Olivia!” Ristan screamed, staring at me.
“Stop him,” I said, sobbing as my head shook, unable to tell Ristan what sat behind me. “Ryder, stop him!” I pleaded brokenly.
Ryder didn’t move from where he was rooted in the doorway. His eyes were stuck on Dristan’s body, wide in horror before they moved to Savlian, who shouted for Sevrin, finding his twin murdered, a blade still protruding from his chest. Adam held Eliran, staring up at Ryder, who still didn’t speak or move. Ristan pushed me aside, and his wail slammed into my soul. He screamed and sobbed helplessly at the lifeless body of his mate lying upon the floor with her stomach cut open.
“Save her!” Ristan demanded, standing up to grab me, unaware of the tiny bundle I held in my arms. “You’re the fucking Goddess of the Fae, you save her!” he yelled through angry tears, shaking me.
“Stop!” Erie demanded, pushing him away only to catch him as he lunged again and again.
“Fuck you. This is between Synthia and me! I saved her children! She fucking owes me! She has to bring Olivia back. I don’t want to fucking live without her!” he shouted through tears.
Someone grabbed for the babe, and I let them, turning to stare at Ristan, who was growing angrier by the moment. Bloodied hands ran through his hair as he shook his head, staring at me with a pleading look in his gaze. Pain was etched on his face, his blind need to bring Olivia back rushing through him. He lunged at me again, only for Erie to block him from reaching me.
“I can’t,” I whispered thickly. “I’m so sorry, Ristan. I can’t bring her back. It is forbidden.”
“You will do it! Dammit. Synthia, I love her. I love her so fucking much, please. Please!” He grabbed me, shaking me before Erie could stop him. I turned, looking at Ryder, who still stood motionless, staring at Dristan. “I’ll fucking make you!”
“Choose one of her children, you bastard! Her daughter? Her sons? Or maybe Ryder? Which one would you have her sacrifice to bring your mate back? No? Don’t want to choose? Because the gods will make her! And when she does, because you know she’d choose Ryder over her children to die, they will kill her fucking children!” Erie screamed, forcing the room to go silent. “That is what they do! They take the one thing you love most, and they destroy it! So choose which child of hers you are willing to sacrifice for your mate because you can be damn certain she will lose one to bring Olivia back. I’m sorry, it sucks. That is the way it works, so choose one.”
“I can’t,” he sobbed, shaking his head. “Olivia’s pregnant! She’s going to be a mother! We’re going to fill her frames with so many fucking pictures that she won’t know where to put them. I promised her!”
“No, you will be a father, and you will fill the frames for her.” I stared up at him, watching the denial play across his face.
He shook his head, and the room filled with the small scream of the infant. Ristan’s eyes moved, finding his mother holding his son. He stared at the tiny babe with red