Blackness swallowed Jaxon like an ocean.
Dust choked his lungs. Metal groaned overhead, raining sparks as collapsed beams shifted. The world was a haze of agony, sharp, pulsing, relentless. His ears rang as if a grenade had detonated inside his skull.
For a moment, he felt nothing but weight pressing him down.
Then
Pain.
Sharp.
Searing.
Alive.
Jaxon gasped, coughing out sand and blood. His body throbbed with every heartbeat, every breath scraping like knives in his ribs. His vision blurred, shapes dancing in the dark like ghosts.
He reached out blindly, fingers scraping dirt and splintered wood.
“R… Rafe…” His voice was a rasp.
No answer.
Above, muffled voices shouted. Then a screamLena’sechoed through the cracking roof of the pit.
“JAXON! JAXON!”
He tried to stand. His legs
