vehicle or plane. I can’t be certain which, but I know Collin is near. His rage is palpable, but his fear is even stronger.
The rattling sound comes again, as if a thick chain is being dragged. “Brianna? Babe? Stay with me. Please.” Collin’s tone turns raw and desperate. “Don’t die.”
I try to open my eyes, to see him one last time, but my lids are too heavy. Despite his plea, I know I’m on the brink of death.
I can feel it.
Agony fills my limbs. The burning is so strong that it’s a miracle I’m not crying out. Then I realize my lungs have seized. I’m barely breathing. I can’t even talk, let alone cry or scream. The magic swimming through my system is stealing my life right out from under me.
This is the end.
“They have the stretcher ready. The second we touch down, we move.”
“Col—” But my whisper is so quiet, I doubt he heard me.
I try again to call for him, but my lips won’t part. I want to reach for him, touch him, hold him, give him one last kiss goodbye.
But my body won’t move.
This is the end.
∞ ∞ ∞
Small hands are touching me, feeling along my arms and around my shoulder. I must have died. The touch is so soft, like angel kisses.
“I don’t have much time,” a woman says. “She’s on the verge of entering the afterlife.”
The small hands lift, leaving me to drift away. The blackness is descending again, like a veil closing in front of my eyes, when burning light abruptly enters my body.
I arch and open my mouth to scream—more from shock than pain—as the burning increases. Rivers of heat flow through my bloodstream, trickling into every pore and cell in their path. Soothing coolness follows, dousing the flames and leaving me blissfully numb where the fire had consumed me.
So I’m not dead, but whatever’s happening to me it’s not of this world.
It goes on and on, over and over. The fiery light courses through my body again and again. I see the light even with my eyes closed. It’s as if the sun is shining within me. I’ve never felt anything like it.
As the minutes tick by, my mind slowly clears. Awareness creeps into me with every second that passes.
I’m inside somewhere, and I’m lying on something hard and flat, maybe a table or bench. The room’s cold, and a draft flutters air near my feet.
And I feel better. The burning from the poisonous magic is ebbing away as the strange light heals my body. I know I was at the brink of death, but this light is pulling me back.
“Collin?” I whisper.
“Shh,” a man says. “Don’t move, Brianna. Daria’s almost done.”
Another moment passes, and just as quickly as the fiery light came, it disappears.
Soft hands touch me again, cool yet firm. “Brianna?”
I flutter my eyelids open to see a small woman hovering above me—Daria I presume. She has startling turquoise-colored eyes, and long blond hair trails down her back. She smiles, and she’s so beautiful that all I can do is stare.
“That was close,” Daria says. “You were pretty determined to die on me.” She clasps my hand and helps me sit up.
“Here, let me. You shouldn’t be lifting in your condition.” A large older man with salt and pepper hair intervenes. He takes my hand from Daria, his warm fingers closing over mine.
He easily props me up before swinging my feet over the side of the bed. It’s then that I see Daria’s round prominent belly. She has to be at least eight, if not nine, months pregnant.
“How do you feel?” Daria asks. Her voice is soft and melodic. My heartbeat slows just hearing it.
“Fine. I think.” I feel my scalp, wondering if I got a head injury since I don’t remember how I got here or where I am.
“I eradicated the magical poison in your blood,” Daria says. “You should be good as new now.”
I frown as understanding dawns. “Did you just heal me?”
“Yes. You were near death after that injection of kuraia from Mitchell’s arrow. It was good thinking to call me. I’m not sure you would have recovered otherwise.”
I shake my head and finally take in my surroundings. I’m in a small room, and I have no idea where, but foggy images of Collin as a wolf and us being surrounded by black-clad men and women has my heartbeat picking up all over again.
The Supernatural Forces. They attacked us while we slept in Nevada.