I remember this safe feeling. A feeling of comfort.Protection. I vowed to myself to never feel this feeling… but with his armsaround me, it’s uncontrollable. I need the Gods to curse me from never feeling this way.
I know it’s him. But, he shouldn’t be holding me. Why did he rescue me?
Koen.
As my blurry vision slowly comes to, I see his face. His eyes are soft, but on the edge of…tears? Impossible. He would never cry for me.His eyes dart around as he pulls me in closer, scanning the area as he rushes to the stone.Why did I leave the bag there?It is as if the voice had full control over me, dictating my every move as it took my mind over. I had no choice butto follow it.
With every step, Koen's jaw tightens, his gaze shifting from me to the path in front of him. His breath comes in ragged gasps and white clouds puff around his face as his lips quiver uncontrollably. Panic. Fear. Pain. They are all there in ways I’d never seen, not from him.Never from him.And never for… me. I almost don’t recognize him.
“Hurry!” Florian shouts ahead of us, and Koen picks up speed, letting my head flop against his chest. My eyes close.
Embracing this heat that radiates off of his chest, despite his wet clothes, I curl into him, trying to escape the cold. My body is frozen, shivering every second. His hands clasp me as if he might never have the chance to hold me again, his grip confirming that I am still here. Still alive,still with him.
For now.
My eyes sluggishly open again, drifting to his face. He meets my gaze and forces out a weary smile, his lips twisting with the effort of holding back the emotions that threaten to overflow. His eyes seem so tired.
“I got you, Spark. Don’t die.” Koen's voice trembles with each word, almost breaking. He shivers and his lips try to pull into a smile, but he is too weak to do so. Ice sparkles along his eyebrows as water drips from his soaked curls.
I let out a deep exhale before closing my eyes. “I won’t.”
His arms are like a furnace as I melt into him. I’m not sure how it's possible to feel such heat burn from his body, especially in the condition he is in.The conditionweare in.
He saved me.
If I survive, I shall do everything I can to save him from the darkness inside of him.
As I attempt to turn my arm that flails helplessly with each stride he takes, an excruciating blaze scorches my skin with relentless fury. Boiling agony sears through me. I gasp, my eyes clenching shut as I remember the same pain from when I touched the stones in Alaska. I recoil, curling into myself within his grasp, unleashing a piercing wail that rips from my throat with every ounce of strength I have left.
It hurts to scream. It hurts to move.
Koen's eyes slam shut, deep lines furrowing between his brows as ice breaks off his hair from the sudden movement. His jaw clenches through my scream and tortures his very senses.
It burns.I feel as if I'm being toasted.
I sob. Tears pour out as they slide across my cheeks. I groan through the short breaks of my screams.
“Kill me!” I cry out, my hand moving to touch my arm, but my fingertips burn at contact. “Kill me, now! I can’t do this!”
I can’t take this. The pain is too much. I am burning from the inside out. I feel as if I am beingscorched alive.
“No!” Koen hisses. “You must fight through it!”
“I can’t—” I convulse, my stomach squeezing and my chest tightening. “Koen, it burns. Everything hurts.”
He grunts. “I will not kill you!”
I stare up at him, watching his veins pulse against his neck, his jaw clenching with every muscle strain that ripples through his body. He is fighting something.
He is fighting back the urge to let…no way. It can’t be.His eyes water, unsure if it's from the cold wind that whips at his face as he rushes over the frozen lake, or if those tears are for me.
A light brightens around me, and Koen squints as he tries to look away from me. Wait.Is the light coming from me?
With a trembling hand, I reach out, forcing my fingers to rub over my skin despite the scorching heat that radiates off of me. I feel something. My finger glides over what feels like a stone, its edges smooth yet rigid at the touch. But the heat is like nothing I have felt before. I pull away, staring at my shaky hands. My skin isn’t red. There isn’t a hint of my skin being burned. My skin isn’t peeled, no blisters or swelling, just a normal soft pink tint.
What is happening to me?
“Koen—” My voice trembles as I choke on a sob. “What is happening?”
