Elira's POV

My body was hollowed out— like everything inside had been scraped raw. A deep throbbing ache pulsed between my hips and my abdomen still contracted like it wasn't aware the ordeal was over.

I blinked towards the bundle. It was a boy. The Moretti’s heir.

My head lolled back against the cold metal deck of the van as my mouth struggled to get air in— every effort sending a ripple of pain through my ribs.

The stench hung in the air, thick with the scent of life and loss— a heavy mix of blood, iron and salt. The sharp metallic tang of blood was all my nostrils could...