Casteel spoke softly to the man as Delano moved ahead, shouldering through the crowd. I heard the sound of gulping cries, the kind of sobs that stole the breath, and most of the sound.

“I brought help,” I heard the father say. “Do you hear me, Marji? I brought someone who is going to try to help you…”

My stomach lurched as I saw the limp body—a too-small form clutched to the chest of a woman on her knees, who shared the same auburn hair. The father crouched at the child’s head. It was the woman making those ragged, broken sounds. Her emotions were frenzied, shifting from terror to sorrow to murky disbelief.

“Come on, baby girl, open your eyes for your papa.” Her father shifted closer, carefully brushing her hair back—

The child’s hair wasn’t auburn.

That was blood streaking the light brown strands—hair that matched the father’s. My gaze swept over the child as Delano circled the huddled group. One leg wasn’t lying right, twisted at an unnatural angle. “Open your eyes for me,” her father pleaded. A murmur of surprise rose from those who stood in the garden as they realized that the Prince was among them. “Open your eyes for your momma and me, baby girl. There’s someone here to help.”

The mother’s gaze darted around those standing there. I didn’t think she saw a single face when she uttered, “She won’t open her eyes.”

The child’s lashes were dark against cheeks absent of color. I could barely feel her pain anymore, and I knew that was a bad sign. For that kind of pain to ease so quickly and totally, things were grave. Atlantians, even those of the elemental line, were basically mortal until they entered the Culling. Any number of injuries that could fatally harm a mortal could do the same to them.

The mother’s gaze landed on me. “Can you help her?” she whispered, shuddering. “Can you? Please?”

Heart thumping and skin vibrating, I neared them. “I will.”

At least I thought I could. I had healed Beckett’s broken bones. I had no idea if that would happen now, but I knew I could pump as much warmth and happiness into her as I could. I feared that was all I could do. I worried the Healer had been right, and this child had moved beyond anyone’s ability. I just prayed that my touch didn’t manifest in the same way as it had in the Temple.

Casteel walked ahead, crouching beside the parents. He placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder as I lowered myself while Kieran had gone still, all except for the rise and fall of his chest. His nostrils flared as Delano whimpered, sinking onto his haunches at the child’s feet.

Casteel’s gaze met mine, and I saw it there—the welling grief. “Poppy…”

“I can try,” I insisted, kneeling across from the mother. The stone was hard under my knees as I tried not to notice how the child’s head hung so limply, how it didn’t seem shaped right. I started to reach for the girl, but the mother’s arms tensed around her. “You can still hold her,” I said gently. “You don’t have to let her go.”