I ran through the burning forest, dodging falling branches. The whole world was on fire. Soon it would come down on me.
“Ulf!” I screamed. “Haakon!”
“Laurel?” a faint whisper drew me through the gathering gloom. I started towards it, wading through the thick darkness like water.
“Haakon? I’m here. Tell me where you are,” I begged. The world shrunk and I crawled through it like a tunnel. “I hear you breathing. I know you live. I will find you. Stay awake, my love. Stay awake!”
I woke with a start.
“How’s she doing?” A voice beyond the curtain, muffled. Sister Juliet—or Juliet, as she insisted to be called—answered in a voice too low for me to hear.
I did not know how much time had past since Hazel left my side. It did not matter. My life, my time no longer mattered.
Haakon was missin
