Page 254 of Sins of the Heart
Thoughts of Rhianna nearly undid her, layering a
different kind of agony on the physical. Memories and
wishes. She could feel the pillow in her hands.
“Roxy! You fucking stay with me.”
She knew that voice, crème brûlée with a hint of
crackle, only it was rougher than before. Harsher.
Then the meaning of the words hit her and the pain
in her chest took on a different flavor as her circumstances came rushing at her like a cart on a hill. She was
dying.
“My heart,” she gasped.
“Still in your chest, but barely.”
“Blood.” Disgorging that single word took all her
concentration. She willed him to understand.
“Yeah, you’ve lost a lot of blood—” No! He had it all
wrong. Why didn’t he understand? “—Your chest’s
ripped open. Your ribs are cracked. Your left lung’s collapsed.”
Ah, so that was why it was so hard to breathe. Or
maybe it was because he was leaning over her, pressing on her chest. At least, it felt like he was. She tried
to reach for him, to make him stop.
“Be still. I’m trying to control the bleeding. You
aren’t helping.”
What did he think she ought to do? Sew herself up?
She gave up on trying to speak. Waste of energy.
Every breath was a gasp, every beat of her pulse an
agony.
Forcing her eyes open, she focused on Dagan. He
was an obsidian shadow against blackest night. Paltry
light filtered through the canopy of leaves, shimmering in his hair, making his eyes glitter. He looked fierce,
angry. And something else that she couldn’t quite name.
EVE SILVER
