I wanted to answer him to tell him I was still here but my lips wouldn't move because the red in my vision was still swirling.
Celix's voice followed, low and strained. "If the demon truly takes her… even I cannot bring her back."
I felt the wind shift as Lucas carried me upstairs, each step echoing like thunder in my ears.
He pushed open the door to his room and laid me on his bed, the scent of him surrounding me. The mattress dipped beneath my weight, the blanket cool against my burning skin.
The ceiling swayed above me.
My fingers curled into the sheets as I tried to fight the haze clouding my mind, but it pulled me deeper.
Somewhere in the blur, I heard Lucas again. His voice soft, almost like a prayer. "I will not let you go."
And just before I lost consciousness again, I caught Celix's whisper outside the door, sharp and filled with fire. "Ezra… if you do not return, she will be lost forever."
The room fell silent, but in that silence, my own heart screamed.
