I felt nothing, then everything. Darkness faded into blinding light as consciousness returned to me in waves. My son's cries pierced the fog in my mind, calling me back from wherever I'd been drifting.
"Seraphina!" Lyra's voice was urgent, almost desperate. "Sera, can you hear me? You need to use the Goddess's gift. Now!"
I tried to open my eyes, but my lids felt weighted with lead. My body was cold, so unbearably cold, except for a warm weight against my chest that I instinctively recognized as my baby—my Rhys.
"She's losing too much blood," Dr. Ian's voice sounded far away. "We need to—"
"Kaelen," Lyra interrupted. "Take Rhys. Let me work."
Through the haze, I sensed movement, felt the precious weight of my newborn son being lifted from me. A whimper escaped my lips—I'd just found him; I couldn't lose him now.
