Bones break, souls are ripped apart, nothing’s left to fight this war.

———

Lily’s POV

Darkness greeted me like an old enemy.

Not the kind that comes with nightfall, but the kind that lingers behind your eyes even after you’ve opened them. I blinked against the sharp ache blooming behind my skull, the world spinning sideways before it steadied, it was slow, thick and suffocating.

Pain pulsed in quiet waves across every inch of my body. My limbs felt foreign, bruised, unwilling. It took effort just to breathe.

Then…

A sound.

A soft, desperate cry.

Ross.

It was as if a switch had been flipped.

I bolted upright, my heart...