Mary and Kris glanced at each other grimly.
“Shouldn’t we wait for him?” Mary asked.
I opened my mouth to speak, prepared to demand they do whatever they needed to ensure she lived, but Anna spoke first. “He’s tied up in surgery. She might not make it that long,” Anna responded, and the females nodded before getting to work.
She might not make it that long.
My eyes locked on Cassie, her face so peaceful despite the dirt and blood, her chest rising in a slow, steady rhythm. We needed more time. It couldn’t end like this. I pulled myself from her, slipping past the curtain to find Anna already reading through her file. Anna’s pale eyes flitted back and forth across the screen, her sepia skin paling, her inner brows curving upward.
“What is it?” I dared to ask, her sorrow filling the room, like freshly fallen rain. My heart dipped. “What did you find?”
“Damien, I—” She blinked, her own voice cutting off as she drew a sharp, uneven breath, trying to keep calm.
“What?” I asked.
“This... isn’t her first heart attack.”
All air left me. “What do you mean?”
“She... this isn’t something new. She’s been battling this for years,” Anna said, her eyes falling back to the screen. “There are records in here going all the way back to nineteen ninety-three. She’s been fighting this since she was a child.”
The world shifted beneath my feet, and I had to grab hold of the table to keep myself upright. “What exactly has she been battling?”
“She has a rare form of cardiomyopathy. There’s scar tissue buildup in her heart, inhibiting its ability to function. She—” Anna lifted her eyes to me. “She never told you anything about this?”
My eyes drifted to the curtain blocking my view from Cassie.
“No... she—” My eyes drifted back to the laptop sitting before Anna. “She never did.”
Why had she hidden this from me?
“Can it be fixed?” I asked.
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she released a heavy sigh. “Looking at these files, it seems they’ve been trying to for years with no success. It would take me days to sort through just how many procedures she’s been through already.”
Her body will not be able to handle the powers at their peak. They will destroy her.
Selene’s warning shot through me so painfully, I couldn’t breathe. I was losing her.
“Damien,” Anna started, and I shifted my gaze to her, her pale eyes dulled with sorrow. Gods, please don’t say it. Don’t tell me what I feared.
“She doesn’t have much time left...”
49
CASSIE
Something was beeping. God, it wouldn’t shut up. I tried to open my eyes, tried to reach for what I thought must be an alarm to wake me up for... school? No. Training? I had training... or... No. What was I doing?
My body felt so heavy, leaden, and yet not, as if I were riding on waves. I couldn’t move, couldn’t lift my eyelids no matter how hard I tried. God, that damned beeping. Why wouldn’t it stop? I swallowed, my mouth bone dry, throat even drier. I just wanted to sleep.
A throbbing pain rippled through my head, and the air was icy over my skin. Where were my blankets? Had I forgotten to set the heat? I managed enough strength to crack my eyes open, my lids heavy. I wanted nothing more than to close them again, allow myself to slip back into that deep sleep, but that damned beeping wouldn’t stop. The room was a blur, and I frowned at the unfamiliar colors and objects.
Beep... Beep... Beep. I lifted my hand to try to reach for whatever the alarm was, tempted to throw it across the room, but something pulled at the crease in my elbow. I was attached to something. A sting crept in through the numbness, and I blinked, trying to focus enough to see what it was.
Something gripped my other hand, and I shifted my head to find someone sitting at my side, his head resting against the blankets next to me. Though I couldn’t see quite clearly, I knew it was him, the scent of cedar and leather reaching me.
What was he doing? Why wasn’t he in bed? I opened my mouth to try to speak, but the cold air hit my parched throat and I coughed. Sharp pain shot down my arm and back, and I grimaced, a groan ripping through my throat. Damien’s head shot up, and then he was on his feet, looking over me.
