Cruxius could hear her—shattered and raw.
Her screams tore through the thick, choking haze of the burning villa.
"Cruxius! Please, don't—no, no, no—!"
His ruined body shook beneath her small hands. The tremor was so fierce he could barely register the scorched flesh peeling from his own bones.
The blistering heat was a roaring storm inside him, drowning out every other physical sense.
Except her voice.
Then, the shock of cold hit.
A heavy, wet fabric slapped over his burning skin. It soaked right through, bringing her feverish warmth with it as her bare, quivering body clung tightly to his chest.
Her broken sobs pressed into his neck, wet and ragged.
"I'm here… I'm here… don't leave me…"
Shit... is she not going to awaken even after all this? Cruxius kept his eyes shut tight. He played the part of a corpse flawlessly, holding his shallow breath while enduring an agony that promised real death at any passing second.
