RAIN POV
His body was still warm against mine — barely.
I was still holding him, afraid that if I let go, he'd fade back into the silence he had just escaped. Batista's head rested limply on my arm, his chest rising so faintly I had to press my ear to it to hear the beat.
"Batista…" I whispered, my voice trembling. "Can you hear me?"
His eyes fluttered weakly open — unfocused, glassy, like he was staring through a fog that hadn't lifted yet. I tried to help him sit up, my arm behind his shoulders, but he was too heavy, too weak. His body sagged like the life in him hadn't fully returned.
"Why—why are you so weak?" I asked, my voice breaking. "You're here, you're alive… so why can't you move?"
Seraphina's calm voice cut through my panic. "He just returned from the dead, Rain. His soul barely found its way back. He needs time — and rest. The light that brought him back must still settle into his body."
