Midnight of Ashes (Dragons of Ember Hollow Book 2)

1. Hayden

Pain. It was the only thing that existed. A fiery inferno burning me from the inside out.

Some part of me was aware of hitting the ground. The crash into the hard cement was nothing compared to the agony inside my chest.

My body rolled, my focus aiming skyward. The sky was so beautiful. Completely clear. Stars shining.

Those stars wavered a bit, seeming to blink in and out.

My hearing came back in a whoosh. There were shouts. Footsteps pounded against the pavement.

And then Easton’s face filled my vision.

God, he was beautiful. Even knowing how much he hated me, I couldn’t help that tug toward him. Couldn’t help drinking in that beauty.

His man bun was slightly askew now. Strands of that light brown dipped in gold fell across his face. A face that had gone chalky pale. His usually tanned skin was an unnatural shade of white.

“Hayden,” Easton croaked.

I wanted to say something back. To tell him it would be okay. But my mouth couldn’t form the words. My tongue felt thick and sluggish, impossible to move.

Easton’s hands hovered over me, as if they didn’t know what to do. And then finally, he pushed down on my chest.

It wasn’t until his palms connected with my torso that I realized the pain had dulled. Or maybe I had been in shock? But I wasn’t anymore.

A fresh wave of agony swept over me. The fire was back, eating away at me from the inside out. I couldn’t help it, I screamed.

Easton let loose a string of curses. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I have to. I have to hurt you.”

The shock took hold again, the worst of the pain numbing. The stars above me flickered, and my eyelids fluttered along with them.

Easton pushed harder on my chest. “No. Don’t close your eyes, Hayden. Stay with me.”

Why did Easton care? He didn’t want me here. Maybe it would just be easier if I slipped away.

“Please,” he begged.

My eyes opened again, trying to understand the pleading in his voice.

Easton’s eyes shimmered in the moonlight. “Why?” he rasped. “Why the hell would you do that?”

I wanted to tell him that he mattered. Even when he was an asshole. But I couldn’t get the words out.

A single tear slid free from his eye, falling and splashing onto my cheek.

Shouts sounded. I couldn’t tell how far away they were, couldn’t discern the voices over the ringing in my ears. Easton yelled something back, but it wasn’t threatening. It had to be the guys.

New faces hovered above me, and I tried to make them out. Through the blur of my vision, I recognized Knox. He crouched next to me, taking my hand.

“Hayden,” he whispered, so much pain in that one word.

Maddox barked something at Easton, who immediately jerked back. Easton stood, staring down at his hands. Hands covered in blood. My blood.

Then Maddox’s face filled my vision. “I’m so sorry, Mo Ghràidh. This is going to hurt like hell.”

He didn’t wait for me to attempt an answer; he simply shoved something into my chest. If I’d still had the ability to scream, the sound would’ve been wrenched from my throat. But I didn’t. It was as if there was only a small part of me that could even feel the pain.

If I’d been with it, I would’ve recognized that Maddox was packing my wound, trying to stop the bleeding until help arrived.

My mouth wanted to pull down in a frown. Would help even come? I’d been hit with a blast of dragon fire. I didn’t know if there was any coming back from that.

“Press here,” Maddox ordered Knox.

Knox’s face blanched, but he nodded. He pressed down on the gauze. I didn’t feel any pain at the contact. That had to be bad. It should hurt like the fires of hell.

“Cáel, the IV,” Maddox barked.

That was when I saw my Viking warrior for the first time. He struggled to breathe as he pawed through a medical bag, finally shoving some sort of tubing and a sealed packet to Maddox.

His eyes came to me. The pale blue was almost absent of color now. There was so much pain there. And more than that, terror.

The urge to comfort him was so strong. I thought it might be enough to give me the strength to get up off the pavement and simply wrap my arms around him. But it wasn’t.

“Small pinch,” Maddox whispered.

That hurt. The tenderness in Mad’s voice. The way he was still explaining everything he was doing, even though I knew I was halfway gone.

I didn’t feel the needle go into my skin, didn’t feel it when he inserted the thin tube. But I did feel a wash of cool liquid hit my veins. Drugs. Something to ease the agony.

Maddox didn’t know I’d already gone numb, and this was the only thing he could do to help. The world went a little blurrier.

Cillian’s large form hovered above him. “They’ll be here in under five minutes.”

Maddox looked up at him, his expression going completely blank. “I don’t know if she’ll make it that long.”