Everything hurt. Her head. Her muscles. Her skin. Even the marrow in her bones throbbed, making her mind scream and her body shake. Like a series of powerful aftershocks, tremors rumbled through her, rattling her teeth, upping the agony, propelling her into a brutal downward spiral only ER doctors knew how to stop.

Not that she could be fixed.

A bleak thought, but Elise accepted it as she fought to breathe. Oxygen in. Pain out, her chest struggling to rise though each bite of fresh pain. Over and over. Again and again until each exhale sounded pathetic, less wheeze, more whimper, weaker with every breath she took. Treetops sped beneath her. Cold air nipped at her cheeks. Hard scales and sharp claws surrounding her. She tried to struggle, to keep her eyes open and her mind working, but…nope. No hope at all. There wouldn’t be any escaping…or fixing her.

The slices across her back told a sickening tale. She was pretty sure one of her kidneys was damaged, cut open by Grizgunn’s claws when he tossed her like a baseball. Now, she bled, the slickness under her sweater turning to sticky ooze and…goddamn the asshole. He’d thrown her away like garbage, as though she didn’t matter, and—

Elise frowned. Something had happened to make him do that.

Something powerful.

Something important, but…Elise shook her head. No. That wasn’t right. It wasn’t a something. It had been someone. Her brows furrowed. Right? Hadn’t it been?

She searched her memory, trying to recall what she’d witnessed. The truth refused to surface. Confusion bubbled up instead, blurring reality. Now, she couldn’t tell fact from fiction. Had any of it been real?

She remembered a ring of fire and the violent crack of impact. Felt the way Grizgunn jerked in mid-air, heard his scream inside her head, but…she sucked in an agonizing breath, struggling to sort through what she’d seen. Nothing clear formed. Just a scattering of imagery—thoughts and perceptions—that made no sense. Scales and serrated teeth. Fire and bite of wind chill. The pain and mind-torque of mental blur.

Weakness setting in, her head bobbed forward. Her cheek brushed something warm and hard. A growl reverberated through the ridged surface. She pressed closer, soaking up the heat, listening to the rumble, needing the connection.

Another growl. More skin-stroking vibrations.

The pain eased a little. Just enough to push her toward numbness.

Elise snuggled closer still. Why? She didn’t know. It wasn’t a nice sound. The growl was guttural and rough, so nasty most people would’ve deployed self-preservation like a parachute. But as the sound came again, a steady rumbling purr, it registered as reassuring instead of frightening, helpful instead of harmful, soothing and—

The earth swayed.

Her body followed, interrupting her train of thought. Or rather, her trip down the rabbit hole. A good explanation. Clearly, she’d lost her mind. Nothing else explained the brain drift or her sudden contentment. The emotional shift made no sense—must be a fallacy. A story spun in an endorphin-fueled cloud of euphoria to distract her from the fact she couldn’t feel her legs anymore.

As physical awareness faded, Elise accepted reality. She wasn’t tethered to her body anymore. Pain severed the connection, giving her a clear message—she was going to die. Impending doom loomed like a crow, its repetitive caw sounding like a death knell as her muscles numbed and her mind faded.

“Lass.” The deep voice rolled through her. A jarring bump. The sound of flapping. A fresh burst of pain. The cold rush of air as something rustled. “Look at me.”

The command pierced through the mind fog. As it swirled, leaving clear patches in its wake, Elise tried to obey. He spoke again. She clung to his voice, using it as a lifeline, trying to raise her lashes. Her body refused to cooperate. Her eyes remained shut.

“Shite,” the voice said, coming from far away. “Hang on, talmina.”

“Who?”

“Cyprus.”

“I know you.”

“Aye, you do.” Gentle hands touched her. “Open your eyes for me.”

Elise tried again, but as he picked her up, the fog became too thick. She couldn’t fight her way through it. “Can’t.”

“Then give me your name.”

She whispered it to him.

“Elise—stay awake. Stay with me.”

She wanted to listen. Needed to stay connected to the sound of his voice, but as the world shifted, she lost her bearings, falling head long into darkness. Into an abyss that reached up and swallowed her whole.