Page 58 of Summertime Hexy

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I get a grunt.

She drops to her knees beside me. Hands on my face, cold and frantic. Her fingers tremble as they slide under my jaw, checking for a pulse.

Like I’d leave her now.

“You absolute—stupid—nightmare man—” she’s rambling, words crashing into each other. “What thehellwere you thinking?! You don’t just throw yourself into death magic like it’s some kind of romantic gesture!”

I blink up at her. “Wasn’t… romantic.”

“Shutup.Don’t speak. Save your strength—oh gods, there’sblood?—”

I cough. “Hazel?—”

She leans in closer. Her hair falls around us like a curtain, tangling in my coat. Her eyes are wet.

Not glitter. Not performance.

Raw.

“I can’t lose you,” she whispers.

“You didn’t.”

A long pause.

And then her forehead presses to mine, her breath shaky against my cheek.

“You idiot,” she says. “You unbearable, impossible idiot.”

I would smile.

If it didn’t feel like my ribs were on fire.

But then there’s a noise.

Anewnoise.

The tearroars.

Not just a pulse. Not just a scream.

Adetonation.

The veil convulses—massive, violent. Energy slams outward in a circular wave, flattening trees and snapping branches like twigs. The earth bucks beneath us.

The void isn’t just lashing out anymore.

It’sfighting back.

I feel the pull. That sickening tug like gravity reversing.

And Hazelstands.

Hands curling into fists.

Her wand rises.

Her eyes blaze.

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