Page 175 of Buried in Blood
My breath comes hard. My fists still clench. But I don’t stop moving.
Because she’s still on the ground.
Harmony.
I drop beside her just as Reese presses both hands over her side. Blood leaks through his fingers too fast.
“Stay with me,” he whispers, over and over. “Stay with me, baby. You’re okay. You’re okay.”
But she’s not.
Her eyes flutter.
Her lips are pale.
And all I can hear is the sound of Reese breaking apart.
He looks at me, wild and desperate. “We have to go. Now.”
I nod.
No words.
I help him lift her, careful not to jostle the wound. She whimpers in his arms, barely conscious, her hand grasping for something she can’t find.
“It’s okay,” he says, kissing her forehead. “You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
We rush toward the car.
Astra screams for us. Evelyn sobs into Lucien’s shoulder. But the world has narrowed into a single pulse, a single mission.
Save her.
Make this mean something.
Reese climbs into the backseat, holding her tight, his voice a broken prayer against her blood-slicked skin.
I slam the door and peel onto the road.
Damien is dead.
But the cost is still bleeding.
And the girl who survived him may not survive the rest.
51
Harmony
The world is colorless.
Muted grays and silvers stretch out around me, like I’m walking through a memory that never belonged to me. The ground is soft beneath my feet—like ash or fog—and the air hums with something ancient. Something waiting.
I don’t know where I am. But I know I’m not awake.
Not really.
Ahead of me is a hallway, narrow and endless. Flickering lights swing above like they’re hanging from the ribs of some great beast, bones creaking with every sway. The walls pulse like veins.
