Melissa.
I woke with a sharp gasp, my body jerking as though I’d been dragged violently back into myself.
Pain greeted me everywhere.
It seeped into my bones, throbbed behind my eyes, coiled tight around my chest. Even breathing felt like punishment. I lay there for a long moment, staring at the canopy above my bed, afraid that if I moved even an inch, my body might split apart.
My bond burned.
It wasn’t the warm, reassuring pull I had once imagined, once dreamed about when I still believed love could save me. No. This was agony. Raw. Unfiltered. As though something inside me had rejected its own existence and was now punishing me for it.
I tried to sit up.
A sharp wave of pain tore through my spine, and my vision swam. White dots exploded before my eyes, my head spinning violently.
