“Oh my God—”
Rebecca tried to breathe. Couldn’t. Every inhale burned.
Someone kneltbeside her.
Sera.
Her face came into focus, pale and frantic, hands hovering, unsure where to touch. “Rebecca. Rebecca, stay with me.”
Rebecca’s vision tunneled. Everything hurt. Everything went heavy.She clutched weakly at Sera’s sleeve, pulling her closer with what little strength she had left.”Sera,” she whispered.
“Yes. I’m here.”
Rebecca forced the words out, knowing she didn’t have much time. Her fingers tightened weakly in her friend’s sleeve.”Sera,” she whispered again, draggingin a burning breath. “Bjorn… was married to her.”She swallowed, eyes fluttering. “And you—”
Sera stilled. ”What?”
Her grip tightened once more. “You’re next.”
Understanding flickered in Sera’s eyes, sharp and unfinished.
Footsteps approached from two directions atonce.
Vidar appeared at the edge of her fading vision, his breath hitching as if he’d been punched. “My God—” he said, voice breaking just enough to sound real. “We were just talking. She stepped back and before I could catchher, she fell.”
At the same moment, Alaric Severin pushed through the gathering crowd, his expression hard, eyes already on Rebecca.
Sera looked up at both of them, her face strained. “She needs help.”
“An ambulance is on the way,” Alaric said, his voice already shifting into command, cutting through the chaos.
Vidar knelt immediately, one knee hitting the marble. “Good,” he said, urgency clipped and professional. Then, softer, closer, “Rebecca,” he said. “Can you hear me?”
Rebecca couldn’t answer.
“Did she say anything?” Vidar asked Sera, his tone tight, concerned, entirely appropriate.
Sera hesitated, her throat working as she swallowed. Then she shook her head. “She… she said she was sorry.”
Vidar’s jaw tightened for a fraction of a second before he smoothed it away. The pause was brief, almost imperceptible, but it carried significance. Then he looked back down at Rebecca, focus intent, as if sheer will might keep herhere.
The ceiling swam above her. The edges of the world darkened.
Her last thought wasn’t fear, but bitterness. She’d never been thepoint.
Andenoughhad never been meant to save her. It had only been meant to decide who camenext.
SERA DIDN’T REMEMBERsittingdown.
One moment she’d been on the marble, her hands shaking as she tried to keep pressure where pressure didn’t matter, her voice begging Rebecca to stay with her. The next, she was on a bench near the elevators with her palms pressed flat to her thighs as if she could hold herself in place by sheer force.
The atrium of Severin Holdings had turned into a scene. Not chaos, not exactly. Procedure.
Security had pushed the crowd back first. Quiet voices. Firm hands. Aline of bodies creating a perimeter that didn’t need tape because everyone could see the blood on the stairs and understood what it meant.
Paramedics arrived within minutes. Two of them dropped to their knees beside Rebecca, equipment appearing as if from thin air. They spoke in clipped phrases Sera couldn’t follow. They checked pulse points. They lifted eyelids.They pressed adhesive pads to skin that was already cooling. Amonitor beeped, then stopped, then beeped again as if the machine itself couldn’t believe what it was seeing.
Sera tried to stand. Alaric’s hand landed on her shoulder.Not gentle.Not cruel.Present.
