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He opened the door as if he’d leave, but hesitated, then looked at me over his shoulder. “When you’re reunited and Grace is resting, come to my office. I have your pin. And we’ll discuss the future.”

I nodded dumbly, half my body buzzing with the need to move, while the other half felt numb and cold.

Terra eyed me, and that expression she’d had, the one she hadn’t hidden when she first walked in, shadowed her gaze.

Gil stepped in just as Donavyn stepped out. He wasn’t smiling. Why wasn’t he smiling?

“Grace,” I said, looking from him to Terra. “Has something happened? Is she—”

“I told you the truth,” Terra said gently, as Gil came to stand at my shoulder. “I believe she’ll recover fully. With time.”

“Then why do you look so sad? Why did you bring Gil?”

I glanced at him, almost flinching when he put a hand to my shoulder. Panic made my heart pound. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Terra took a deep breath. “Were you aware that Grace was pregnant?”

I knew it, I told myself. I knew this was coming. Cali warned me. There’s no shock here. I expected this.

I nodded jerkily. “Yes.” My voice was hoarse. “But I understood that… that…”

“We couldn’t save it, Voski. I’m so sorry. Something had happened. I don’t know if it was the magik or—”

“I knew,” I said abruptly, flinching when she reached out to touch my arm. Ducking away from the squeeze Gil gave my shoulder, shrugging him off. “I already kn-knew that. I knew. It was obvious it couldn’t survive. You can stop looking like that. I knew.”

Grace’s bright blue eyes, and little golden curls. That sweet smile on a chubby face—

Terra’s chin was low. She stared up at me, eyes searching mine as if she wasn’t sure what she saw. “Grace knows. I told her first. I felt she should know.”

I nodded tightly, swallowing hard. Shaking my head when Gil leaned in.

“Good. That’s good. That’s the right thing to do.” When she looked at me with compassion and concern, I shook my head. “Right now, I just want to see Grace.”

“You will. But you need a moment to take that in,” Terra said carefully. “I believe we have Grace strong enough that we can take you to her, and you two can be alone for a while. But I want to give you a chance to process—”

“I don’t need that!” I growled. “I need her!”

“Brother, take a minute—”

“Don’t patronize me!” I snapped at Gil, then turned back to Terra. “Is there more? Is there something you’re hiding, or thinking I shouldn’t hear? Is Grace—”

“Grace is sad, but she wants you.”

“And I want her! So why are we here?”

“Because what I just told you is a grief, Voski. You’re allowed to be sad and need time—”

“The only thing I need is Grace!” I realized I was shouting and caught myself. Closed my eyes for a moment, and clawed a hand through my hair. “Forgive me. It’s… I’ve been terrified she wouldn’t make it. Truly. I’m grateful. And I’m sure we’ll be sad. But right now, I’m just glad she’s healing.”

But Terra still didn’t smile. She locked eyes with me. I wanted to look away. I wanted to snap at her to stop looking at me like that. But she raised her chin and balled her hands at her sides. “I need to tell you some things before you speak with Grace.”

“What?”

Terra looked at Gil like she was warning him to keep his mouth shut, then cleared her throat. “I’ve walked through this with many women. It’s far more common than you might think. But we don’t speak of it. And especially given how this happened… I need to warn you: You Furyknights are so accustomed to fixing things, and solving problems, you need to understand that you can’t fix this, Voski.”

“I know. I brought her here to—”

“No, I don’t mean the healing. I don’t even mean the grief. I mean Grace.”