HAYES
I looked down into her face, expecting to see relief. I expected her to breathe out a long sigh, to rest her head against my chest, or to tell me that I had taken too long to handle it.
Instead, Ciara’s fingers twitched violently inside mine. Her eyes widened, staring blankly past my left shoulder, and then the light in her irises simply extinguished. Her knees caved inward, her jaw went slack, and her head snapped back as her entire body went completely limp in my arms.
"Ciara!"
The scream tore out of my throat before my brain could even process what was happening. I lunged across the stone porch, sliding hard on my knees, catching her before her skull smashed against the frozen, icy ground.
Her skin was turning a sickening, dead gray right before my eyes. When I slammed my pal
