(Emma)
I woke up feeling worse than before. My body ached, like something inside me was being pulled apart. I reached for Darius, but my hand met empty sheets. He was gone. He left, just like he promised, to find the things they needed to fix this. To fix me.
I turned onto my side, staring at where he would sleep. His scent was still there, faint but enough to calm me for a moment. I held the pillow close, trying to hold onto him, to feel something—anything—but it wasn’t the same. The bond was slipping away. I could feel it happening.
Not only that, but Lyra had also been quiet. Too quiet. She used to always be there, a presence in my mind, arguing her way out of things, but now it felt like she was far away, calling to me from a distance I couldn’t reach. I closed my eyes, trying to fo
