“Yes, you can,” Delia says. “You’ve got this, mama. One more big push for me, okay? Just one more.”
The floor vibrates under my boots, faint but there.
Some of it is the usual hum of The Barrow, the living rock reacting to pain and power and birth.
Some of it is me.
The bond tugging. The land listening through me.
“Come on, kid,” I whisper under my breath. “Your mom’s a badass. Help her out here.”
Jules screams.
The sound rips through stone and bone and air—and then there’s another sound layered under it.
A thin, wet wail.
For a second, nobody moves.
Then Clarisse laughs—a sharp, delighted cackle.
“He’s here!” she exclaims. “A strong boy. A very loud boy.”
The tension breaks all at once.
Jules collapses back against the pillows, sobbing and laughing at the same time.
Alaric makes a sound I’ve never heard from a grown man before—something between a sob and a roar—and nearly falls over himself trying to get to his mate while stealing a look at their sweet baby.
“Is he—?” Jules chokes.
“Perfect,” Delia says, tears gleaming in her eyes. “He’s perfect.”
Clarisse works quickly, cleaning and wrapping the baby in soft, moss-colored cloth.
The little thing’s skin shines with a faint sheen, like the shimmer of heat over pavement.
A down of pale silver hair dusts his head, and when he blinks open his eyes, they gleam storm-light gray.
“Here we are, little Lordling,” Clarisse croons, then looks up at Jules. “Are you ready to meet your son, my lady?”
Jules nods, lip trembling. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
Alaric practically dives forward, but to his credit, he stops just long enough to let Clarisse settle the bundle into Jules’ waiting arms.
She looks down.
Everything in the room goes quiet.
The stone. The air.
Even the bond humming between me and Dagan settles into a low, reverent thrumming.
“Hey, baby,” Jules whispers, brushing a shaky fingertip over one tiny, perfect cheek. “Gods, you’re… you’re real.”
“Of course he is real, Myrrin,” Alaric murmurs, his hand shaking as he folds it over theirs. “What shall we call him?”
We all go still as she thinks.
