Lyra’s breath hit her throat as she stared down at the floor of the dark closet. Renzo was slumped against the wooden paneling, his broad chest rising and falling in shallow, ragged gaps. The little pink pillow was still clutched tightly against his ribs, but his jaw was slack and his skin was dangerously pale.
"Oh my god, Renzo!" Lyra gasped, dropping to her knees immediately. She threw her arms around his massive shoulders, trying to pull him forward into the open air of the bedroom. "I am so, so sorry! I didn't think that crazy woman and her impatient priest would stay for twenty minutes! Speak to me, are you alive?"
Renzo let out a low, gravelly groan, his eyelids fluttering open. As the cool, fresh air of the bedroom hit his face, a small hint of sharp focus returned to his icy blue
