My knees crash into the ground, and I seize Roxy's arm as fast as lightning splits a tree. It's cold—far too cold. Her breaths come faint and ragged, each one weaker than the last, as if she's already standing on death's edge.
"Anna, faster! Please—more power, she's slipping! She—"
"She's going to be okay, calm down Quill…" Anna's voice reaches me, steady on the surface but fraying at the edges. I turn my gaze toward her and see the truth carved into her young face. Fear wrinkles her expression, lines that shouldn't exist at her age—like she's aged years in mere minutes just to save Roxy.
Anna? My eyes widen. What's happening to her?
The crimson light spilling from her hands flickers dimly, weaker by the second. My chest tightens as realization strikes. She's not just healing. She's burning her own life away to mend Roxy's. That kind of power isn't a gift. It's a one-way ticket to hell. I should stop her… but doing so would mean revealing my own powers.
