Chapter 9 · She Was Never the Mother

The second genetic profile stares back at me from the bottom of the page.

Lila Caine.

I don't know that name. I should know that name. My hands shake so hard the paper rattles and I have to set it down on the concrete floor before I drop it. Cole's watching me from across the warehouse but he doesn't move. His burned hand is still wrapped in the torn fabric from my jacket and his eyes are still that wrong shade of gold.

I pick up the file again. Force myself to read it.

Patient A: Ivy Grace. Halflood activation: day 1 of cycle. Ovarian reserve: negligible. Hormone response: nonviable.

Patient B: Lila Caine. Fullblood lineage: Vaughn maternal line. Ovarian reserve: optimal. Scheduled for extraction: day 3 of cycle.

Extraction.

The word sits in my mouth like metal. I know what extraction means in a breeding contract. They take the eggs. They take them and they use them and the woman who gives them up doesn't get a choice.

I flip the page. There's a procedure log. Dates. My contract signing was March second. The extraction was March seventh.