Chapter 57
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Fighting through the dark was like swimming upward from the depths of the ocean with chains around his ankles. He’d never experienced drowning before, but he imagined this was what it was like. Thick and heavy, achingly slow.
Wetness filled his throat. Pain burned like a fire. His brain begged for the mercy of unconsciousness, but his instinct battled for Vanessa. Everything in his bones forced him to stay conscious, to find her and make sure she was okay.
He heard her shout his name from a distance, but when he opened his eyes, she was right there. Tears streaked her cheeks, blood splattered her face.
Why was there so much blood?
He struggled to sit upright, to find where she was hurt, to get her to safety. Pain ricocheted through his body like lightning bolts. He tried to call for her, but the taste of warm copper filled his mouth.
Everything slowed, the darkness descended again, and a panic seized him as realization hit. The blood was his. He was dying. He’d never see her again. This was it.
Fluid was thick in his mouth when he tried to speak. The coughing fit that ensued quieted his words. “I love you.”
“No,” she chanted over and over, her tears falling onto his cheeks, warming them.
Fuck, every part of him was cold.
“Don’t go. Don’t leave me. You can’t leave me.” She sounded a thousand miles away.
He wished he could hold her one last time, but his limbs were like lead. He’d never felt so fucking weak. “I’ll find you,” he promised.
How lucky had he been to know her? To love her?
And the last thing he saw before the inky darkness took him, were her beautiful broken eyes.