Page 46 of Fallen Empire
Then came the sound of something scraping against the tile floor, a chair, maybe. Someone was moving closer. But it was his voice that broke through the agony.
“Savannah, baby, we’re right here. You don’t have to say anything. But if you can hear us, we’re right here.”
His hand settled gently on my shoulder.
It should’ve been comforting. It should’ve anchored me. Instead, it exploded through my skin like a thousand needles igniting every nerve down my arm. The pain was sudden, electric, slicing its way from my collarbone to my wrist like fire under my skin.
But I didn’t flinch. Didn’t cry out. Didn’t give in to the unrelenting torture his touch had triggered. Because I wasn’t letting go now. Not when they were both so close.
Not when I’d made it this far.
The pain didn’t ease, but something else pushed through it, something stronger than the fire in my limbs.
Light.
A soft glow behind my eyelids, blurry and distant, like the world was calling me back.
I tried to lift them. It felt like trying to peel back concrete.
But slowly… they cracked open.
Just a sliver at first. Then more.
Shapes bled into my vision, fuzzy outlines moving in front me. The ceiling. Lights. Movement. Then—faces.
Millie. Jaxson.
They hovered just above me, blurred by tears I hadn’t realized were mine. My eyes drifted between them, back and forth, locking on each for only seconds at a time. I didn’t dare move my head. Even that felt impossible. But my gaze, weak as it was, spoke the truth.
I was still here.
And I saw them.
Chapter 11
Millie
I’d almost missed it.
A flicker so subtle I thought my brain had imagined it. But then her lashes twitched again, just barely. My breath caught.
“Jaxson,” I called out, my voice breaking mid-syllable.
The chair scraped hard against the tile as he moved. Fast. Urgent.
We both leaned in.
“Savannah, baby,” he whispered, “we’re right here. You don’t have to say anything. But if you can hear us, we’re right here.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder. I watched her, holding my breath, afraid to blink.
Afraid I’d miss it again.
Then it happened.
Her eyes fluttered. Once. Twice. Like she was trying to peel them open after days in the dark.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, hand over my mouth. “Come on, Vannah… come on.”
