Kendrick's Collapse
The moment Kendrick's body went slack — one breath, one whispered I love you, then darkness folding over him like a curtain — time seemed to fracture.
Amelia didn't even realize she'd screamed until the sound ricocheted off the mansion walls and came back to strike her ears.
"Kendrick! Kendrick!"
Her hands were on him instantly — shaking his shoulders, cupping his face, patting his cheeks as if she could slap him awake through sheer panic and willpower. His skin was warm, but the way his head lolled made her blood run cold. The alcohol reeked on his breath, mixed with something worse — desperation, heartbreak, the kind of self-destruction that didn't leave bruises but still shattered bones inside.
Nerissa's breath hitched behind her. Beryl was already moving, fast
