I was carrying Avalor, his skin cooling in my arms. Every breath he made to take hurt him, and I felt his life bleeding from him. Panic built inside of me like a coming tide. He couldn't die like this. Not after everything.
I pulled him closer, swaying back and forth as if that could anchor him to life. The tears ran down my face, but I couldn't control them. I swiped at them furiously, calling myself to order and trying to clear my head.
I had to find a way to save him. I couldn't let Lucius win. Not after everything we'd been through.
It was moonlight, which filtered in through broken windows. But soft pulses rode the gentle draft, almost as if coaxing me to rise. The power I had experienced a few hours before that and my connection to the moon had revitalized me. I didn't understand anything, but I knew precisely what to do.
