Lilith's POV

I was breathing really fast and each breath felt sharp and panicked. The darkness was closing in on me like a tight noose wrapping around my neck.

I could feel it building up, cold and crackling like a storm that was filled with anger. The taste of bitterness from the shadows was lingering on my tongue and with every beat of that dark energy, I felt tempted to give in and let it take over.

But I could not do that right now—there was someone who needed me, someone whose life was hanging by a thread.

“No,” I whispered to myself with deep intensity, feeling a pool of...