The pulse in my wrist did not slow down. It did not settle. It clawed its way up my arm, sharp and electric, like the mark was trying to push through my skin and escape. My breath hitched, and I squeezed my hand into a fist, hoping pressure might at least dull the ache.
Nathan noticed immediately. Of course he did. He caught my hand gently but firmly, thumb stroking the back of it in slow circles. Like his touch could soothe ancient magic having a tantrum.
His voice dropped to a low murmur. “How much pain.”
“Define pain,” I said through my teeth.
Nathan’s jaw flexed. He did not buy it. Not for a second.
Before he could question me, something else cut through the silence.
A whisper.
Barely there. Thin. Distant. A sound that took its time getting through the dark, as if it had been tr
