I am weak.
I am nothing.
I was never meant to be one of the few who get to live.
I sit back on my heels, staring up at the sky above. Ready and waiting.
I feel another blow to my head. The pain is immense, and I crumple to the ground.
I’m shivering.
I’m not cold, but I’m shivering.
“Fight.”A voice I’ve never heard before fills the empty spaces of my mind, so soft I can barely hear it, like the tiniest whisper of a breath.
But even so, it gives me courage, gives mehope,and I try to push myself up, but my muscles fail.
“Fight.”It’s louder now, distinctly feminine and pleasant and lovely, but even so, it sounds so far away. Too far.
The blood loss must be getting to me.
I don’t have much time.
My knees find my chest, and I wrap my arms around them, hugging them to me. My vision blurs, and I wait for death to come.
But then there’s a commotion. A loud voice and a white light. I hear screaming, and I have to cover my ears because their screams are so loud, but I can’t see what’s happening. Even with the light, my vision is darkening. The darkness is moving in, faster and faster.
More screams.
Char?
Has Char come to save me?
Before the darkness swallows me whole, I manage to look up.
The white light is gone. Only the moon and the stars allow me to see the figure hovering above.
Golden eyes stare down at me.
Not Char.
So who are you? And why did you save me?
But the darkness comes for me before I can ask.
Chapter 6
Jax
Dark eyes meet mine, nearly black like the night sky, like the deepest galaxies of space that I know I can never reach, never touch—catching the moonlight like a spark in the darkness.
But then those eyes close, and they don’t open again.
My breathing stops.
Was I too late?
I watch her chest rise and fall, a silent relief washing over me.
