THANE POV
Dying hurt less than I expected.
Not because it was painless, because there was nothing painless about teeth tearing through my throat or blood leaving my body faster than Ferus could force it back into my veins, but because by the time the darkness started pulling me under, there wasn’t enough of me left to care properly.
The pain had become distant somehow, muted and strange, like hearing a storm through thick walls while knowing the house was already collapsing around you.
I remembered blood.
The taste of iron.
The weight of my own body refusing to move.
Then nothing.
Then her.
Perse.
My angel.
Not her face first. Not even her voice. Just her, everywhere, flooding the dark with the impossible warmth of roses and rain and wildflowers, golden light forcing its way int
