LUCIAN
For a second, I just stare after calling her name without response. The world feels muffled, like I’ve been shoved underwater. My chest twists as I try to take in the full sight in front of me. Her hair is clinging to her face, sticky with sweat and blood. So much of her blood seeping into the floor, even to my boots, the thick scent grabbing the space between my breaths.
Her blood spreads all over my hands as I reach for her. I can barely breathe. I don’t remember shifting. Don’t remember tearing through the courtyard with her cradled against my chest like something fragile, already broken. My boots hit the stone floor of the infirmary hard enough to echo, and still the healers take too long.
“Move,” I growl, my voice raw and guttural.
Two nurses rush forward, trying to t
