Page 13 of Too Dangerous To Die

"You cannot die," he growls.

A demand. A command.

I try to laugh, but it comes out as achoked, wet sound.

"I think—" My fingers twitch, failing tograsp at him."I think I already have."

And then the darkness takes me.

6

RHAEGAR

She is dying.

The bond between us isfraying, slipping through my grasp like sand through clawed fingers. I feel it in the way herheartbeat stutters, in the way her breathsshallowinto nothing more than ghosts of air.

It is an unbearable truth, one Irefuseto accept.

Because shecannot die.

Not when she is the only thing tethering me to this world. Not when I have barelytouched her, known her, unraveled the secrets in her veins.

She is mine.

And I do not let go of what ismine.

Thehunters’ corpsesstill bleed onto the temple floor, the scent of death heavy in the air. But I do not linger. I do not even spare them a glance.

Imove.

Gathering herfragile, brokenbody into my arms, I rise, the weight of her almostnothingagainst me. Sheshould not be this light.

She should not bethis still.

A growl rises in my chest, the sound low anddangerous, vibrating through the ruins. My wings unfurl,still incomplete, but enough to propel me into the sky.I do not think. I do not hesitate.

I simplygo.

The windripspast me as I fly, carrying the scent offorest dampness, of distant fires burning in unseen villages.Protheka stretches out below, vast and dark, itsancient scarshidden beneath the veil of night.

But I do not care for the world.

I care only for thefading heartbeatagainst my chest.

"Stay with me," I demand, though I’m not aware if she can hear me.

Nora does not answer.

The bond between usthrums, weakening.Unraveling.

No.

I tighten my hold on her, my clawsaccidentallybiting into her skin as my wings push harder.

There must be something.

Something in these lands,some place, some power that can keep her breathing.

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