Page 186 of To Ashes and Dust
Something brushed against the walls of my mind, soft and tender, and it was enough to ground me, to tether me back to this realm. I smiled softly to myself as I reached out to meet that caress.
You shouldn’t waste your strength using your abilities, mea luna.
Her warmth filled my senses, the feeling washing over every inch of me through our connection, and it was enough to ease the tension that had built in my shoulders.
I let out a sigh, resting back against the wall as my eyes lifted to the ceiling.
I wish I could take you home. I wish I could take you away from all this.
Her voice echoed through my thoughts again, defeat clear with each word.
I know, mea sol.
The pain in her voice was too much to bear.
I love you, mea luna.
I love you too.
I swallowed, my toe tapping on the floor, eager to be back at her side. I spoke through the connection again.
You really should take it easy. Try not to use your magic if you can help it.
I just want to be close to you while I can—
Her voice cut off abruptly, her presence ripping from my mind, and I flinched as she clung to me, as she fought against what pulled her from my thoughts. The connection snapped, as if my thoughts had been torn in two, and I lurched, the pain leaving me breathless.
“Cas?” The nurse’s voice reached my ears from the room. “Cassie, can you hear me? What’s going on?”
I leapt to my feet and dashed for the doorway as Thalia did the same. I halted in the threshold as my eyes found her. Her hazel eyes were wide, mouth agape. Her hand clutched her chest as she tried but failed to breathe.
“Cassie?” I rushed for her, and her hand reached for me. Her nails dug into my skin as she grabbed hold of me, as if she might be falling from a cliff. “I’m here. Speak to me.”
Mary rushed out the room, calling out something down the hall, but the words were inaudible over the roar in my mind, over Cassie’s short gasps.
“What’s going on?” I shouted to the nurse on the other side of the bed.
Cassie’s eyes rolled back in her head as she fell back. I caught her, my heart lurching as her body began convulsing. My thoughts scattered, and terror sank into me.Gods, no.
“She’s going into cardiac arrest!” Kris yelled as she rushed to gather supplies and equipment.
The beeps I’d clung to since I’d arrived rang out in a long ringing sound as Cassie’s body went still, her head falling to the side, and the world stopped.
“Cassie!”
68
DAMIEN
“Lord Damien, I need you to step out,” a nurse repeated, her voice muffled, as if my ears had stopped working. She tugged at my arm as I stood there, unable to think straight, unable to move as people poured into the room. My body wouldn’t respond, legs wouldn’t move, eyes wouldn’t leave her.
The room spun as I stumbled back, allowing whoever it was gripping my arm to guide me out. She left me in the hallway just outside the door, watching as my entire world fell apart, as everything around me crumbled.
Voices blurred as Johnson rushed past me, barking orders to a nurse who was already working on chest compressions. Thalia’s whimpers and yips tore through the muddy sounds as she paced at my feet.
This couldn’t be happening.
Johnson shouted something as he readied the paddles in his hands, and the nurses lifted their hands from Cassie’s body as he pressed them to her chest. Her body surged, chest jolting off the bed and then everyone remained frozen, looking to the flat green line on the monitor. The empty, blaring ring persisted.
