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I woke gasping.
My hands flew to my throat. The skin was torn, healing but still raw where her nails had dug in. I couldn't breathe. My chest locked up like her hand was still there, crushing my windpipe.
I curled forward, coughing. Each breath scraped raw.
"Breathe, Lena." Kaia's voice cut through. "She's gone. You're still here."
But it didn't feel like it. The phantom weight of Veronique's grip wouldn't leave.
Then I realizedâI felt nothing else. No pain. No fire in my ribs. No glass in my skin.
The car had crushed me. I remembered bones breaking, steel caving in. But now... nothing.
"Am I dead?" I whispered into the dark.
"No," Kaia said softly. "You're safe."
Then I heard it. Breathing. Slow, ragged, labored.
The scent hit me next. Steel and snow, tainted with blood. A lot of blood too.
"Who's there?"
A pause. Then his voice, rough and strained. "It's me."
Mikhail.
