Chapter 14 · The Heartbeat in the Blood

The light burns through my shirt.

Not warm. Not soft. It's like someone shoved a hot wire through my skin and hooked it straight into the baby. The three hunters freeze in the doorway, their rifles half-raised, eyes locked on the glow pouring out of me.

Cole's hand tightens around mine. He's not looking at them. He's looking at me.

I can't breathe. The mark is pulsing now, synced with something inside me that isn't my heartbeat. It's faster. Wilder. And it hurts like hell.

"What the—" one of the hunters starts, but he doesn't finish.

The light flares.

All three of them stagger back, shielding their eyes. One drops his rifle. It clatters on the concrete and the sound echoes like a gunshot.

I double over. Cole catches me before I hit the ground, his arms solid around my ribs. His mouth moves against my hair but no sound comes out. I feel his breath, fast and shallow.

"I don't know what's happening," I gasp. "I don't—"

The mark flares again, brighter this time, and the baby kicks. Hard.

It's never kicked like that before.

Cole pulls me back, away from the door, but there's nowhere to go.