Lucian knelt on the charred floorboards, holding Andromeda in his arms, his fingers desperately trying to staunch the bleeding that seeped from beneath her shoulder blade. The dark red blood was hot against his palm, as if each drop was a reminder: he had come too late. He had waited too long. He had been too selfish.
"Hold on… please, just hold on," he whispered, his voice growing softer, weaker. It trembled. This was not the Lucian Thornewell people feared. This was only a man afraid of losing the one person who had ever been able to see more in him than the world did. Tobias knelt beside him.
"We have to get her out. Now. Even if we can stabilize her, we only have minutes," he said firmly, though his eyes were bloodshot from the strain.
Lucian nodded and moved at once. Together, they
