Page 86 of Rebirth

It’s only then that I realize her mouth’s not moving. That she’s somehow talking to me without actually speaking. I blink at her, unable to understand how. Convinced I’m hallucinating.

And, as if she’s heard my thoughts, the child continues. You’re my friend now. We don’t gotta use our mouths.

I swallow hard, trying to ease up, but He’rox’s arms tighten around me.

But you gotta do what I say, right? Since you’re my friend now?

I blink at her again, fighting to understand how the fuck I can hear her.

You can kill the icky bug.

Her words chill me and I fight against the pain and grogginess so I can focus.

“Kill the icky bug?” I whisper. And even though I’ve spoken out loud, she nods slowly.

So I wasn’t hallucinating. She was really talking into my mind. This new development sends both anxiety and trepidation through me.

He’rox glances down at me, features etched in stone, and I swallow hard.

Why aren’t you listening to me?!

Her scream, though it is in my mind, makes me wince.

My friends always listen to me! Why aren’t you listening to me?!

“I—” Pain and grogginess make it hard to focus. “He’rox,” I whisper.

It is only then, when a new wave of pain goes through me, that I catch a glance of myself. Consciousness wanes before I come back.

There’s a pulsing against the wound in my shoulder and I lift my hand to the spot.

The whitened suit that covers every inch of my skin reflects in the starlight, and I pause.

The ba’clan?

My eyes snap to He’rox and I see the cosmos in those dark eyes.

I understand now. What he has done. Why I am still here. Sane. Alive. Conscious. And most of all, myself.

“You’ve given me a piece of your soul so I can survive a little longer,” I whisper.

I lift my gaze to his, seeing the truth reflected there. And at that moment, I know that whatever’s happened between us cannot be undone. Will never be undone. My life’s forever changed by this being from another world. He has sacrificed for me again.

My life is his, in its entirety. A debt that can only be repaid one breath at a time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

SOPHIE

My vision comes in and out of focus as He’rox carries me through the forest. Pain still flares through my wounded shoulder, though it is now more of a distant ache than the searing fire from before.

When I open my eyes again, I am staring at the smooth white walls. There is a warm liquid surrounding me and that realization sets me in a panic. I struggle to swim to the surface, but it feels like lead is strapped to my ankles, pulling me down. Anxiety rises inside me as I realize I am trapped inside this watery tomb. But I notice something else.

I finally see the room around me…and the double pits of terror staring straight back at me from the other side.

The Gryken floating in the huge cylinder.

I’m floating in a huge cylinder.

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