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“Doe, you have to leave,” he pleads, his voice trembling despite his effort to remain steady. “You have to leave with Callan… stop fighting him. Stop fighting this.”
But I can’t stop.
I lean against the cold, unforgiving metal of the gate, gasping for air, chest heaving with the effort to stay upright.
“No,” I whisper, my voice trembling with desperation. “No, this can’t…”
Behind me, Callan’s presence looms over me. “Tri, stop bein’ so bloody stubborn,” he roars, his voice cracking with uncharacteristic emotion.
But I don’t care. I don’t care about the pain, or the blood, or that my body is failing me.
Because Finn is on the other side. And I’ll tear the world apart if I have to… to bring him back to me.
I turn to look back at Callan, my body shaking under the weight of pain and fear. His usual confidence is gone. A body laden with trepidation betrays the man who’s always been unshakable in the face of danger. It sends a chill down my spine. I know the next few minutes will require his cooperation. I can’t do this alone.
Right now, I’ve never felt more useless.
All the years I’d spent training, the sweat, the bruises, the countless hours honing my strength—every bit is utterly pointless when it matters most. My body refuses to cooperate, my strength sapped by blood loss and the overwhelming tide of emotions crashing over me.
Callan’s eyes flit past me, lingering over my shoulder. His hesitation ignites a fury in me, hot and searing. How dare he waste precious seconds when Finn is trapped, when everything is falling apart?
“Callan, help me!” I wail, the desperation in my voice sharp enough to cut through the air. “Finn is stuck—”
“Tri, stop it now!”
The command slams into me like a blow. At Finn’s shout, I whip my head back around. The look in his eyes stills the breath in my lungs. There’s something there—a faint, haunting shimmer of silver pooling in the corners of his gaze, a warning of something I don’t want to name.
“This was the only way,” he says, his voice low and resolute.
My mind rebels against his words, my head shaking vehemently in denial. I grip the cold iron bars tighter, using the last threads of strength in my failing body to fight against the reality they’re trying to sell me.
“No,” I choke out, the word thick with determination and panic. “We’ll find a way—like we always do.”
He presses himself closer to the bars, his expression softening despite the storm raging in his eyes. “Tri…”
“Stop,” I whisper, tears blurring my vision as my voice cracks. “Don’t... Don’t you dare.”
Finn doesn’t respond, not with words. Instead, he reaches his hand through the bars, palm outstretched toward me. “Come here.”
I hesitate, the raw vulnerability in his voice slicing through me, but I refuse to move. My pride, my fear, my refusal to believe this moment could end in anything but both of us walking away together, keeps me rooted. I shake my head stubbornly.
But Finn doesn’t let me refuse.
He grabs my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. His touch sends a jolt through me, a familiar warmth that’s both comforting and devastating.
“I will not hear another word until you are on this side with me, and we are well away from this hellhole.” I try to rip my hand from his, but there’s no force behind it. I have nothing left to give. My body is spent, my strength drained to nothing but the quivering embers of willpower.
Callan’s approach is cautious, slow, as if I were a wounded animal liable to lash out at any moment. I look to find his expression taut with something too close to pity.
My heart hammers as I glare at him, my fury igniting anew. “Do not look at me like that,” I spit through gritted teeth. “We’re getting him out of there, Callan. Help me, damn you!”
But when he speaks, his tone isn’t the booming, commanding one I expect. It’s quiet. Controlled.
“Triona,” he says, his voice pleading. “Please, listen to him.”
A bitter scoff escapes my lips, sharp and jagged, and I hiss when his hand comes to rest lightly on my back.
“Don’t touch me,” I snap, my words venomous and unfiltered.
