The first breath after the battle tasted like iron and brine. Sophie lay flat on the jagged concrete of the pier while her body convulsed with shivers that threatened to c***k her ribs. The blue indigo glow had retreated but it left behind a dull and pulsing ache in her marrow. Above her the Manhattan lights were flickering with a fragile and sickly yellow as if the city itself were recovering from a stroke.
Stay awake Sophie. Valerius's voice was a whisper in the wind while his golden light form hovered barely inches from her face. Do not let the silence pull you under yet.
I am trying, Sophie gasped while her teeth clattered together. She looked down at her hands. The mark was no longer a dormant tattoo. The lines were moving and shifting like worms under her skin. They were blacker t
