The first thing I heard was a man sobbing. The sound hurt after so long in silence. Beneath it came a heartbeat, fast and uneven, close enough that I felt the rhythm through the altar.
Sight followed without warning. Red filled the blur first: blood across the altar, blood soaking Kaelen's clothes, and blood drying at the corner of my own mouth.
Kaelen knelt over me. A dagger with a snarling wolf carved into its hilt stood in his chest beside his heart. His face was wet, and his eyes kept trying to focus on mine as their color clouded.
He saw my eyes focus and leaned so close that I could count the damp strands of hair stuck to his forehead.
“Elara. Please, say something. Hate me if you want. Just stay. Please live.”
The ritual had returned cold air to my skin, the copper smell of blo
