“Almost there,” she said, her voice strained.
“Work faster.” The words were barely more than a growl.
The light above me pulsed, too bright, too close. I was sinking again, pulled back into the thick, black water of my mind.
Something tugged me upward. A hand gripping mine.
“She’s slipping away, I can feel it. I do not make idle threats, woman. Save her, or die beside her, now fucking choose!”
Fingers clutched my wrist, firm, warm, and real. “Stay with me, Cadence. Fuck… just stay with me.”
I wanted to. Gods, I wanted to. But I was tired. So tired. Exhaustion sank into my bones, whispering promises of peace if I just let go.
The woman muttered under her breath. An incantation? A curse?
She pressed her palms flat over my wound. Light flared through my body like lightning in slow motion. I arched off the ground, or maybe I only imagined it.
My heart stuttered.
“Now!” she said, her tone urgent.
Something wet and burning hot cascaded over my shoulder. The scent of herbs filled my nostrils, bitter and earthy.
A searing pain exploded from the site, rattling through every nerve ending. My scream never made it past my lips. It vibrated behind my teeth, swallowed by the void.
Then…
Silence.
Weightlessness.
“There.” Relief flooded the woman’s voice. “The poison is out.”
The crushing weight on my chest lifted, and air rushed into my lungs, sweet and clean.
A flicker of warmth, then someone breathing my name like a prayer.
“Cadence…”
Then everything disappeared, and I sank into darkness.
Chapter Thirty
Cadence
Something stirred at the edge of my awareness.
Not a sound, but… sensation. Warmth against the cool air.
Fingers, calloused but reverent, brushed the exposed flesh at the small of my back. My limbs felt too heavy to move, so I let the sensation anchor me, easing the last of the pain.
My lashes fluttered, and the world came into focus in hazy fragments. Soft light peeked between the curtains, and I could smell the muted scent of herbs. The faint creak of timber bled into the quiet rustle of fabric before the lingering touch at the base of my spine stole my attention once more. Fingers traced farther up my back as though someone was memorizing the shape of me with their hands.
My breath caught in my throat, shallow and uncertain, as if my body wasn’t convinced I was truly alive.
The sensation stopped.
“Cadence?”
