[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"Jack, stay with me! Don't you dare close your eyes now, not when I’ve finally reached you!"

Sofia’s voice cracked, raw with a desperation that echoed through the hollow silence of the boardroom. She was on her knees, her hands trembling as she cradled Jack’s head against her chest. The transition in him was terrifyingly physical. The cords of muscle in his neck that had been tight enough to snap steel were now slack, and the heat radiating from his skin felt like a dying furnace. His breathing was a series of shallow, jagged hitches that seemed to catch on the very air he was fighting to...