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I try to shift under him, but my limbs don’t cooperate. Everything feels distant, like my body is a million miles away.
Somewhere in the distance, I hear car doors slamming. I hear someone scream my name, coming from the other side of the world.
“Mal…” I whisper. It’s barely a sound. My throat is too dry, too raw, and my voice doesn’t carry; it feels like a ghost is speakingwhat I want to say. “Mal… Wake up. They’re here…our friends… They’re coming for us…”
I wait for him to stir, to respond. But he doesn’t. He’s terrifyingly still and pale. His face is inches from mine, and I can’t even feel his breath on my cheek.
Jesus, his blood iseverywhere.
My heart tightens as I see just how much of it there is. It coats my skin, sticky and cold, and my chest heaves as panic rises in me.
“Mal…” My voice cracks weakly. “Please… Wake up. I love you… Wake up…”
He doesn’t move. He doesn’t answer.
Everything spins, and I feel like I’m slipping under again, drowning in agony and fear. Tears sting my eyes, blurring my vision as I lie there, helpless beneath him.
“Freya!”
The sound of my name, loud, sharp and desperate, cuts through the fog. My pulse races. I try to answer, but my voice is too weak to do anything but croak.
“Freya! Where are you?!”
Footsteps, fast and pounding, grow louder. I hear more voices—urgent, frantic.
“FREYA!”
It’s Annika. I’d know her voice anywhere. I try to call back, to tell her where I am, but I can’t. Everything is heavy, so very numb.
“FREYA!!!”
Someone is rushing toward me and falling onto their knees in the dirt next to me. My eyes flutter open, and I’m looking up into Annika’s scared, sobbing face.
Then I see the rest of them rush in behind her—Kenzo, Takeshi, Damian, and more. They all look terrified, their faces ashen as their eyes land on me. Kenzo is barking orders at someone. I want to scream for them to help Mal first, but my lips can barely move.
“Oh my God!” Annika chokes, her hand trembling as she reaches out. “Freya, can you hear me? We’re here, we’re going to get you out.”
“Help…him…” My voice is a weak, rasping plea. “Help…him…”
Annika’s eyes widen, panic flashing across her face. She looks up at Takeshi and Kenzo, her voice cracking. “We need medics, now!”
“Kir…Hana…” I manage to croak, my lips barely forming the words. “Basement…”
Everything fades away. I hear voices, feel hands lifting Mal from me. I start to cry, wanting him near me.Needinghim near me. They’re taking me away from him, and I don’t want to go. I reach for him, my arm weakly outstretched, but it’s no use.
“Help him… please…” I choke, tears stinging my eyes.
The voices around me blur together, fading into the background as the world drifts away. I try to hold on, but I’m slipping, falling into the darkness.
Then I go under.
“Freya…”
When I wake, the first thing I notice is the steady beeping of machines, the rhythm soothing in its consistency. The next thing I notice is the smell—clean, antiseptic. I’m in a hospital. The sheets are soft, the air is cool.
But what really pulls me out of the hole is that I no longer feel searing pain on every inch of my skin.
I blink, my vision slowly clearing, and turn my head. Annika is sitting beside my bed, her eyes tired but warm.
