Page 72 of A Spark in the Ash

I feel it connect with my jaw, and instantly, the world ceases to exist.

Chapter Nineteen

Holy hell,everything hurts.

I can’t breathe. My entire torso is on fire and the rest of me feels as if it was hit by a speeding train.

I gasp as my eyes flash open.

The ceiling above me is blinding white. Ceiling panels are speeding by, and every fifth one is a rectangular shape of light.

I hear the sound of wheels beneath me. As I blink against the searing light, other sounds penetrate my ears, and faces above mine begin to come into focus.

“Serena,” a muddy voice says above me.

I blink again. “Ren,” I say, my voice sounding hoarse. The pain in my chest doubles as I try to speak.

“You have to put her back under,” another voice says, and it sounds absolutely panicked. “She can’t…you can’t let her see this.”

It’s Davorian’s voice. His panic is laced with anger.

“Where…” I breathe out and then cough. It feels as if a white-hot blade slices up my middle, cutting me in half. “Where is Jaxon?”

His name stirs my conscious. I want to sit up. I have to sit up. I need to see him. I need to make sure he’s okay.

“You have to stay down,” another voice says. It’s a woman, and she’s dressed in hospital scrubs. “You’re going to make it worse.”

“What?” I ask. My head is swimming. The pain is overwhelming. Everything feels fuzzy.

“She’s going in for surgery anyway,” Davorian growls. “There’s a damn hole in her chest. Put her out, now!”

My hand whips out as another face comes into focus. Ascelin.

His brows are furrowed. There’s so much pain and anger on his face. There’s blood on his hands, and a smear of it going up the side of his neck.

I think it might be my blood.

“Where’s Jaxon?” I grind out as I glare at him, using every ounce of strength I have left in me.

Something sharp pricks my arm but it’s not even enough to register as pain in my brain right now.

The look in Ascelin’s eyes grows dark and regretful. He squeezes his eyes closed for a moment and curses under his breath. But finally, he opens his eyes again, and looks me straight in the eye.

“They took him, Serena,” he condemns. “The Kindred, they took him.”

Everything in me dies then.

They took him.

I failed to protect him. I failed to keep him safe.

Jaxon tried to save me, protect me. To keep the Kindred from killing me.

But he drained himself in the process. Spent every ounce of energy he had. And left himself defenseless. To save me.

“No,” the word breathes over my lips as the world begins to blur. “No.”

I feel heavy now. Maybe I’m drowning. Maybe the earth is swallowing me up, because I claimed to love Jaxon, and I let this happen to him anyway.

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