“Protect my baby,” I begged. “Protect her as your own.”
A flaming beam crashed down, striking my skull. The fire roared over me, consuming me whole.
My life slipped away, dissolving into the inferno.
“No, my beloved, don’t die on me. Please don’t die.I love you. I love you so much. Ican’tbear to be without you. Don’t leave me!”
Malik’s voice wavered, distant and desperate, fading into nothingness.
A final, gut-wrenching scream ripped from my throat?—
And I bolted upright in bed.
My breath came in ragged gasps, my face damp with tears. The sheets and blankets coiled around me like ropes, trapping my arms and legs in a suffocating grip.
“Roman!” I choked, struggling against the entangling fabric. “Malik! Where’s my baby? Where are my children?” My voice cracked, raw, and frantic. “The fire… They killed my children! My baby is gone. They burned my family!They killed everyone!Malik!”
The panic consumed me, my heart hammering against my ribs, my mind spiraling between dream and reality.
Somewhere in the distance, the hooded clock on the mantel chimed twice.
2 a.m.
Large hands gripped my shoulders, shaking me gently.
A fresh wave of terror surged through me. I let out a strangled cry, shoving my unseen intruder away.
“Get away from me!”
A familiar voice cut through the haze.
“Easy, my love,” Malik murmured. “You were having a nightmare. Screaming. Thrashing. I heard you and came running.”
He settled at the edge of the bed, his presence grounding yet unbearable all at once.
I blinked through my tears, barely able to make out his features in the dim glow of moonlight filtering through the window.
He was shirtless.
The firelight from earlier had long since faded, but he radiated warmth like embers still smoldering. His broad chest glistened with a fine sheen of sweat. His musky, undeniably male scent curled around me, taunting my fragile senses.
I turned away, collapsing against the feather pillow and squeezing my eyes shut.
The dream still clung to me, thick and suffocating.
I had lived a life with both Malik and Roman.
I had birthed children.
And I had watched them burn to death.
Roman had been killed—or worse.
And Malik had begged me to live.
Yet the flames had swallowed me whole.
I had died.
