Page 178 of To Ashes and Dust
His voice flitted across my mind. I couldn’t see him for the nothingness surrounding me, but I knew that voice, the voice I wanted so badly to hear every waking moment of my life.
Open your eyes for me.
I resurfaced and God, I was so tired, my body so heavy, but I forced my eyes to open, the light bright and blinding. My shoulder burned, the pain too intense, but there was no strength left for me to try to move. Where was I?
“She’s awake!” someone said. Cole?
My eyes fluttered, and I nearly slipped back under before he lifted his head from my neck, absolute terror marring that beautiful face I loved so much. My eyes slid shut as I began to drift, exhaustion calling me back beneath the depths like a siren.
He spit something onto the ground before speaking, his words a rush of panic. “No, stay with me, Cas! Keep your eyes open for me!” he pleaded, and I was so relieved to be welcomed by those beautiful eyes, the amber glittering amidst the ashen gray. They’d been black, so black, and his skin had been so pale.
A weak smile tugged at my lips. I never thought I’d get to see him again.
“You came...” My voice was hoarse, and the air poured down my throat like a bag of needles, nearly causing me to cough.
“I promised I’d always find you,mea luna,” he said, his bloodied hand lifting to cup my cheek.Oh God, he was covered in blood—his shirt, his hands, his lips. What happened?
My eyes widened at the sight of it, and I drew a deep breath. I regretted it instantly, pain lancing through my stomach and up my side. I gasped a cry, my face contorting as my body tensed.
“Easy, Cas. You’ll reopen your wound.” The voice was wrapped in a warm summer breeze, and a hand touched my arm, reassuring and calming.
“Did we get all of it? Is there anymore?” Damien asked, his words almost too fast for me to register. The forest spun above us, nausea leaving my breath uneven as my mouth watered.
“I don’t feel anything in her blood. I think you got the venom out.”
Oh God, Melantha had tried to turn me. How was I still—
My stomach churned, something rising in my throat, and I twisted, my body lurching as I heaved. It didn’t help, the pain growing so unbearable that I cried out as I vomited onto the ground. Something black and oily spilled out of my mouth, and the taste left me heaving to get more out. Damien tried to support me, tried to aid any way he could, and when my strength gave out and I collapsed, he caught me before I could fall into it. I couldn’t so much as lift my head as he turned me over, and I fell back, my eyes threatening to close again. It was cold, so cold.
“She’s lost too much blood, Damien.” This voice was marred with fear and concern.
“No, no, no, no, no. Don’t you close your eyes on me, Cas.” Damien’s hand cupped my cheek, his forehead pressing against mine. They were speaking so fast, too fast, and I couldn’t keep up with them, couldn’t keep up with who spoke. I cried out as an arm slid under me, and Damien’s face turned elsewhere as he spoke, his voice blurring. “We need to get her to Johnson’s.”
“We’ll make the trek back. You focus on her,” another voice said, the same voice I’d heard before, laced with warmth and kindness. I tried to lift my head to see them, to see who was with us, but no matter how much I tried, my body didn’t heed my commands. Was it Zephyr? Was he here?
Damien nodded to whoever had spoken, his eyes falling back to me. Sharp burning pain shot across my shoulder and stomach as he lifted me into his arms.
“It hurts.”
“I know,mea luna. I’m so sorry. I’m going to make it better. I’m going to fix it. Just bear with me, please,” he said, voice full of pain as he turned, and something wet fell onto my face.
I clenched my eyes shut, air flooding my lungs in painful pants with every movement. Darkness swept over me again, the voices and movements blurring, the pain dulling, numbing.
Icy air crawled over my skin, and then the air was hot. His scent disappeared, the scent of cedarwood and leather fading into something sterile, something… bitter.
“Get her on a bed!”
“Damien?” I groaned as my back met something soft. Where was he? Movement ripped a pained cry from me.
“Stay with me. Please,” his voice urged from the haze, but he wasn’t near me anymore. I couldn’t feel him. I was pulled under once more, something dragging me beneath the surface until I couldn’t breathe, and I pushed back up, gasping for air.
“Her wound reopened!”
“Applying pressure!”
I cried out as the pain intensified, ripping through me from my lower back to my stomach, something pushing my body onto its side as they pressed onto me.
“I need that rapid infuser!”
