ISABELLA'S POV
I didn't dream.
There was only heat—blistering, overwhelming, and punishing heat. Like something inside me had cracked open, and fire had spilled into my bloodstream. My heart beat too fast, too hard, like it was trying to outrun something. My body ached in places I couldn't name. My throat was dry and raw. Every part of me was begging to shut down.
I wanted to scream, but my throat was raw, and I couldn't seem to open my eyes, no matter how hard I tried. It felt like there were voices around me, faint and far away, but I couldn't make sense of them. The pain… it was suffocating.
"Bella?"
That voice. Adrien.
The name wrapped around me like a lifeline, but I couldn't respond. I couldn't do anything but shudder beneath the weight of my own body, as if every muscle was rebelling against me.
His touch—there. Pressing against my forehead, warm, comforting, but it didn't make the fire inside me go away.
Why was I like this? What happened?
