I felt something inside me tear.
Felt the life I'd been carrying start to slip away.
Felt my own life starting to slip with it.
"No," I breathed.
"No, not yet. Not like this. I'm not ready—"
But ready or not, the darkness was coming.
Pulling me down.
Away from everything I'd fought so hard to protect.
The last thing I heard was Kael screaming my name.
The last thing I felt was Helena's magic trying desperately to hold me together.
The last thing I thought was:
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried.
Then nothing.
Darkness.
Not the absence of light, something deeper.
The void between heartbeats. The silence before creation.
I was floating.
Am I dead?
The thought came without panic.
Just curiosity.
Then pain slammed back into me like a physical blow.
Not physical pain.
S
