Seraphina's POV
The pain was what dragged me back out of unconsciousness.
It was too real. Too brutal. Even Ella had curled herself into a ball somewhere in my mind, letting out a low, strangled sound. I opened my eyes and my first coherent thought was: someone is going to pay for this hand.
"Seraphina!" My mother's voice broke over me. "Seraphina, you're finally awake — who did this to you?!"
"Elara."
I bit her name out one syllable at a time.
My mother's voice went quiet for a moment. "But she's already—"
"Dead. Yes." I stared at the hospital ceiling. My eyes were all red veins. "But the man she got involved with isn't. He did this. Mom—"
I thought about how that man had looked. That presence. Those eyes.
A shiver moved through me.
"That man is a devil. Mom. He's an actual devi
