Page 206 of Sage Haven
I was about to say her name again, louder, when she stirred. The faintest shift of her lashes. A breath—a real one—caught in her throat. And then her eyes opened.
And they found mine in the dark.
They hollowed me out and made me whole all at once.
The Sage I knew had eyes full of wildfire.
But now?
Now they were a storm cloud heavy with rain, dark and endless.
But they were open. She was here. And for now, that was enough.
For a heartbeat—just one—we said nothing.
But there was something between us.
Something louder than words.
A silent thing that pressed into the empty space where language failed.
And I felt it, like a pulse under the skin.
Like the moment before lightning splits the sky.
I wanted to stay there. To live inside that moment and to let time freeze so I could hold her like this forever.
But nothing good ever stays.
And it didn’t now.
Keenan’s voice broke through the haze, sharp and barking orders.
And then they were there.
The paramedics.
Too quick. Too loud. Too much.
I barely heard what they said.
I barely saw them. I only felt her.
Her hands clutching at my jacket, her fingers digging in, desperate and terrified as they tried to pull her away.
She shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks, wide-eyed and pleading.
“Don’t,” she mouthed. “No.”
Her voice cracked on that single syllable, but it was enough to gut me.
My throat burned as I let them take her.
As I gave her to them.
It felt like betrayal.
But I knew.
