I surfaced like I was clawing through ice, the world returning in fragments. Blurred light, aching ribs, throbbing arm, voices like echoes underwater. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was—only the heat threading through my body and the dull pounding behind my eyes.
Voices blurred around me—low, sharp, familiar in ways that didn't make sense. My body felt too heavy, limbs sunk in wet sand, head a balloon tethered by thread. I tasted metal. My lips were dry. My ribs and arm… still ached, but not with the same fire. Something had dulled the edge.
I didn’t open my eyes yet, just listened.
“She’s stable,” Klare’s voice drifted over—cool and clipped as she moved about the room. “But not for long if we don’t get her out of here.”
“We can’t just move her while she’s unconscious—” That w
