Rhyker’s POV
My heart hammered in my chest, each beat louder than the last. The pain, the blood, the desperation that had pushed me through the battle with Colin—it all hung between us in this fragile moment.
Lyra lay so still, her skin almost as pale as the moonlight streaming through the trees.
Her breathing was shallow, the faintest rise and fall that barely reassured me she was still with me.
“Lyra,” I whispered, brushing a lock of hair away from her face, my voice cracked. I’d said her name so many times, tried to call her back from whatever dark place Colin had trapped her in, but it had felt hopeless. Now, though, as my fingers brushed her cheek, something changed—a flicker of movement, so small I nearly missed it.
I leaned closer, barely daring to breathe. I couldn’t let mys
