LEON

I caught her before she hit the ground.

One second, she was fire and gold — standing at the shrine, unshakable, unstoppable.

The next, she was all pale skin and shaking breath, collapsing into my arms.

“Ivy,” I said, gripping her shoulders. “Stay with me. Look at me.”

Her eyes were open, blurring. Her lips were moving, no sound.I pressed my ear to her chest — her heart raced, too fast. But it was the silence below it that chilled me.

No kick.

No pulse.

The baby wasn’t moving.

“Ivy, talk to me,” I begged.

But she only whispered one word.

“Gone.”

And that nearly undid me.

The Shrine...