Vera's POV
My heels click a sharp, frantic rhythm on the polished lobby floor. Fourteen hours. It has been fourteen hours since my world shattered and reassembled in the most agonizing way possible.
Fourteen hours since I called Kaelen.
His voice on the line was my anchor, the only thing that kept me from collapsing. When I told him, the words stumbling out between choked sob that I've found our children, there was a silence so profound I thought the connection had died. Then, his breath hitched. "Vera… are you certain?" He knew I would never, ever lie about this. Not about them.
I told him everything. How I'd strapped our firstborn to a table. How I'd threatened them, bargained with their torment. How we fought, and how I saw our own power flare in their fists. I described the shock on Keith's face, the protective fury in Kieran's, the silent resolve in Kayden's. I told him about the bruise on my ribs, a badge of their strength and my failure.
