Anger detonated in my chest.
I broke into a run.
“ELENA!” The scream tore out of me — raw, fractured, uncontrollable.
Chapter 7
ELENA
My sister’s head shifted at the sound.
Slow. Heavy.
Her left eye was completely swollen shut — the lid puffed and discolored, sealed by trauma.
The right eye strained open.
It took effort.
Her gaze focused on me with painful slowness — like her brain was fighting through shock to recognize what it was seeing.
Her body trembled violently.
Whether from pain, shock, or fear — I couldn’t tell.
“E...lena...” she breathed.
The sound came out as a wet rasp.
Her lips barely moved.
We shared the same name.
Her name was Elena — Elena Senior — though right now there was nothing regal about her. Nothing strong. Nothing left of the woman she used to be.
I crossed the distance in seconds and dropped to my knees in front of her.
My hands reached for her instinctively.
“Elena,” I whispered — voice breaking for the first time since entering.
I wrapped my arms around her.
Carefully. Gently.
But the second I pulled her against me, she inhaled sharply — and her body jerked.
She made a sound of pain that ripped through me like a blade.
I froze.
Immediately I released her.
“I’m sorry — I’m sorry —” I whispered fast, pulling back as if I’d burned her.
Every inch of her looked like an open wound.
Touching her felt like risking further damage.
