This time, she did not cry. She simply pressed her tiny head against Isabella's thumb and tried to suck again. The action was so soft and needy that Isabella's whole heart melted for the second time that morning. She bent her head down carefully, ignoring the ache in her body, and pressed a small kiss to the top of Liora's soft horned head.
"My little girl," Isabella whispered.
Cyrus watched her.
His expression changed in a way that made the air around them feel quiet. He looked at Isabella kissing Liora, then at the two boys resting near her hand, and for a moment he seemed almost unable to believe that all of this was real. Yesterday, Isabella had still been pregnant and in terrible pain. Now his children were outside her body, breathing, moving, and curling toward their mother's warmth.
He reached for Riven first and lifted him carefully in both hands.
