E L A R A
The plunge rips the breath from my lungs, salt claws down my throat, a burn sharper than knives. The tide shoves me sideways, black water filling every space, and my arms flail without aim. Adrian’s grip is the only reason I don’t vanish under, he drags me forward, his chest a wall of heat in a sea that wants me gone.
The cold bites deeper than skin, it gnaws at my bone, at my thought. My teeth slam together so hard my jaw aches, each clack a warning I can’t control. My lips are numb, my tongue thick. Words scatter like broken glass. Slurred. Coordination lost. Stage two…
“Elara.” His voice cuts sharp as a blade through the roar. “Stay with me.”
I try to answer, but only a stutter of sound slips out. My chest seizes, tight as stone. Panic wants to take me under, so I fight th
