Lila
The world had narrowed to pain. Endless, merciless pain.
Each contraction ripped through me like claws, shredding me apart from the inside. My body convulsed against it, my screams scraping my throat raw until I could barely make a sound. Sweat poured down my face, soaking the blanket beneath me, but still the fire burned in every muscle, every bone.
I couldn’t catch my breath. My chest heaved, lungs struggling, but the air slipped away faster than I could take it in.
My vision blurred at the edges, dark spots dancing before my eyes. I was slipping, falling into some void where there was no return.
“Her pulse is fading,” the midwife’s voice cut sharply through the haze. “She won’t last another hour like this.”
I barely managed to lift my head, but I saw Ronan then, crouched at
