Maryelle’s POV
The healer’s words wouldn’t leave me. Your body will continue to fail. Unless we find a cure… you will no longer be with us. Fail. Collapse. Die. The syllables echoed inside me like a curse, each one heavier than the last.
I pressed my hand against my chest, feeling the erratic rhythm of my heart. It wasn’t steady anymore. It wasn’t mine. Every beat felt borrowed, fragile, as though the Intercrossed had stolen the rhythm and left me with scraps. Phantom’s hand never left mine as he carried me back to my chamber. His silence was louder than any vow. He was furious—I could feel it in the way his jaw clenched, in the way his shoulders stiffened—but beneath the fury was fear. Fear for me. Fear of losing me. And I was afraid too.
When he set me down on the bed, his eyes se
