The room tilted.
My lungs forgot how to work.
My fingers went numb where they held him.
For a second I genuinely thought I might black out again.
With Jasper.
The words echoed in my head.
My body reacted before my mind did. My heart started pounding too fast. My vision blurred at the edges. A tremor worked through my arms.
“No,” I breathed.
He moved instantly, hands on my shoulders to steady me as I tried to sit up too fast.
“You can’t get up yet,” he said.
“Don’t tell me what I can’t do,” I snapped, but my voice broke halfway through.
I tried to swing my legs over the side of the bed anyway. Pain flared through my back like someone had dragged fire down my spine. I gasped and almost collapsed forward.
He caught me easily.
“Aria,” he said, more sharply now. “You were shot with
