Josie
I wasn't sure I was going to breathe anymore. My chest felt tight, my lungs strained, and even the steady whisper of air that I tried to pull in came out as a ragged gasp. My body refused to calm down, though the nurse at my side kept murmuring soft instructions, her hand light against my arm.
"Miss Josie," she said carefully, "we need to leave this place. Let's go to a safer location. You need—"
But I couldn't listen. My ears drowned in the sound of footsteps retreating, the weight of a voice that had already been raised too loud, the image of a broad back moving farther and farther away.
Kiel.
He didn't look back once. Not even for me. And that—Gods—that broke me in a way I didn't know I could still break.
I turned sharply, tears burning hot against my eyes, and before I could take a step, I collided into something solid. No—someone.
The impact startled me, enough to drag a small gasp from my throat, and then I looked up.
Varen.
