It happened so fast I almost didn't feel the ground move ... it was just the sound first, Sarah's voice spilling through the speakers, steady and cruelly calm, saying the words that didn't belong in my world.
"...and Kael is the father."
The room fell away.
Sound folded in on itself until all I could hear was my own pulse, hammering like it was trying to claw out of my chest. The lights blurred, faces turned to shapes, mouths moved without sound. My heart beat so loud it drowned everything else.
For a second I just stood there, staring at her... at Sarah, standing on the podium like she wasn't destroying everything, like she hadn't just split me in half in front of a whole crowd. The microphone gleamed in her hand, her expression smooth, unreadable.
And beside me, Kael.
Frozen.
Not denying it, not moving, not breathing. His shoulders were tight, his jaw set, his eyes locked on her like he could kill her with a look... but he didn't speak. He didn't say a single word.
