It begins with a whisper.
Not a tremor.
Not a ritual.
Not an enemy.
Just a shift inside my body.
I wake before dawn, breath catching sharply in my throat.
The baby isn’t calm.
She’s not distressed either.
She’s… expanding.
The silver hum beneath my ribs feels wider than my body can contain.
“Kade,” I whisper.
He’s awake instantly.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
That’s what terrifies me.
Not knowing.
By the time Morgan arrives, the air in the room has changed.
The light feels brighter.
The walls feel thinner.
As if something inside me is pressing outward.
Morgan places her hand over my abdomen.
Her eyes widen.
“It’s not instability.”
“Then what?”
“It’s acceleration.”
Kade’s jaw tightens.
“Define.”
“She’s not destabilizing. She’s strengthening.”
The baby kicks viol
