It was not the twins' voices that reverberated through Seren's bones, but rather the deep, throbbing vibration of something ancient, unfamiliar, and infinitely patient. The blazing root throbbed in her palm, not just with heat but also in time with her kids' cries, until the two blended together like threads into one cord.
She nearly dropped it when she flinched, but her grip held. The root seemed to have bonded itself to her skin.
“Seren—” Kael’s voice cut through the echo, sharp with alarm. He reached for her.
And then he froze.
Between them, his hand hung, its fingers stiff, as though it had been stopped in mid-breath. His eyes met hers with the wide, probing gaze of a man greeting a stranger, not the sidelong glance of a spouse or the intense vigilance of a woman.
His lips part
