A metallic tang flooded my mouth, thick and choking. Blood, and too much of it. My fingers twitched, fumbling for the sword I swore was still lodged in my heart. But my arms were dead weight. Useless.
Fuck.Looks like someone just won their bet.
“Verena…” Callum’s voice broke somewhere beside me, frantic. “No. Fuck—” It wasn’t just worry anymore, it was grief. Maybe even forgiveness. His hands tore fabric from his sleeve, pressing it hard to the wound.
The Viper stilled, no longer raging, but circling, curling tighter, a serpent coiling to sleep.
Save me,I begged it.
The answer came cold across my soul.Save yourself.
The world turned black around us. The kind of darkness that wrapped you in arcane stillness. A roar tore from it, erupting from a cloud of smoke. So guttural, it turned the realm silent just as the cold seeped in.
The battle, the air, everything halted as Ronan arose.
Even half gone, I felt him around me. Heat and shadow seeping into my skin, winding tight like an embrace.
Maybe it was. Maybe he was holding me. I didn’t mind.
Elysian strode through the dark veil, a pale ghost in a sea of Ronan’s living smoke. He knelt close. “Internal damage is unknown. But she’s lost too much blood. He took the blade before he bolted, but the nix has already taken enough.”
“Well,” I rasped, my vision tilted. “Saves me the trouble.”
Callum ripped another strip from his tunic, replacing the cloth already drowned in red. “Her bag, there’s tinctures in there. Quick, check her pack.”
No one moved.
Ford’s voice broke through, too loud. “Callum, I don’t think a tincture’s fixing this.” He pressed a hand to his gut, wincing as Nezra smacked him hard in warning.
I couldn’t feel it against my skin, but I could recognize Ronan’s hand moving to my shoulder, his thumb stroking, gentle where everything else was chaos.
His heart was racing, drowning out the rhythm of terror within my own, as he asked, “Where?”
The world dimmed, sound becoming muffled, fading, and distant.
“I haven’t tracked the scent yet.” Elysian’s voice altered, tinged with something like remorse slipping through as he rose.
Callum dropped his chin, swallowing, before rising himself. “Is she going to be okay?”
He had a tell when he was scared. His voice would squeak, just barely. I used to tease him for it growing up. Now, I realized just how many times he panicked for me.
I should have told him I forgave him. That he was the leader, not me. He was right to make choices without me. I needed to tell him...
“Fuck.” His breath hitched when no one responded. “Someone say it.” Flames grew in his eyes, lighting the gold on fire as his voice cracked. “I need to know if she’s going to survive this.”
Ronan bent over me, his outline blurred. “I didn’t see his face.” Then only one word, like gravel. “Who?”
I couldn’t feel my body, but I could feelhim. My mouth opened, nothing but knives ripping my throat raw, but I forced sound through. “One,” the word broke, barely a whisper, “eye.”
Why wasn’t Callum just looking, reaching into my memories?
“I can’t, V.” His shoulders folded in. “It will kill you faster.”
Perfect. They all agreed I was dying.
Ronan’s glare met Elysian’s as he lifted a finger toward him, deep ruby glistening at the tip. “Enough?” Elysian inhaled, then nodded once, Ronan’s demand coming quietly after. “Alive.”
Even through the numbness, his voice made me shudder.
