I’m too cold. So cold, I might never be warm again.
As the water recedes, I sink with it until I’m left slumped on my hands and knees in the mud, shivering and wheezing. The water burns as badly on the way out as it did on the way in.
I try to summon my wings and my endless supply of anger. I need fire. But nothing happens. There’s no warmth left inside me.
My eyelids flutter.
Boots in mud. They’re running toward me. I tense, but I’m completely tapped out.
Ciprian’s black eyes meet mine.
His lips are moving, but I can’t hear anything.
Flooded with relief, my whole body shuts down, and I slump in his arms.
Ciprian tucks my face into his neck, and his pulse beats against my lips. Faster than normal. He’s scared. I want to tell him it’s okay, that I’m okay.
Something prickles in the back of my mind. I ignore it and snuggle into his heat.
“You’ve got to pick, and then I’ll get you out of here. I swear. Can you point for me, babe?”
Ciprian needs you. Wake up.I force my eyes open and do my best to focus on the elevated platforms. All three of them are already pointing. Malach at Luca. Luca at Alistair. And Alistair—Alistair is pointing at Luca, his eyes blood-red and frenzied.
Two-to-one.
I roll my eyes to the raised podium. Riven is staring, his cloak billowing behind him in the wind.
Something stirs inside me. Hatred, maybe? I don’t carebecause the spark gives me enough strength to lift my hand and point.
Riven nods. The crowd goes wild. And I pass out.
“She shouldn’t be asleep. It’s dangerous!”
“I didn’t know how to stop her.”
“I’m not blaming you, Ciprian.”
“I know. I just—fuck that veydra. I told him I wanted to fight by her side. He didn’t even consider it.”
“We knew that was a long shot.”
Luca.It seems like a lifetime since I last heard his voice. How long has it been? Two days? Three? Too long. I need to see him.
I try to open my eyes. They feel glued shut.
I groan, annoyed by my body’s betrayal.
“Baby.” Luca kisses my cheek, then my forehead. His hands shake violently as they skim my face and neck. “Baby, please wake up.”
“Take it easy,” Ciprian warns.
But I don’t want easy.
I want Luca.
Open. Now, dammit.
My eyelids peel open. Each one weighs fifty pounds.
