"Kael."
Nothing.
Ren grabbed his wrist. It was rigid, and his pulse was racing under her fingers.
The baby didn't let go. He sat naked in the ferns with his fist wrapped around Kael's thumb, staring up at him, perfectly calm.
Behind them, Kaelen had pushed himself up onto three legs.
"Kael. Look at me."
Kael's chest heaved once. Then he blinked, and his eyes found her.
"The nursery," he said.
Ren's stomach dropped.
"I was inside it." His voice came out rough. "Before, it was only pieces. The clan told me the rest." He swallowed. "Now I have seen all of it."
"Kael—"
"I heard them screaming, Ren."
Ren didn't have anything to say to that. So she didn't say anything. She kept her hand on his wrist.
Kael looked down at the small fist around his thumb.
"He did that," he said.
"He did it to me too. The night he was born." Ren hesitated. "I saw something I thought I'd imagined."
Kael didn't ask what. He was still staring at the baby.
