How could my chest hurt so much if my heart was no longer beating? I pressed my hand to it like a tourniquet, a futile attempt to quell the bleeding. But I could feel a little solid thread somewhere in that ache. A little sharp stab of pain that reminded me of the spell Asar had drawn between us, once—the spell that had allowed me to pull him from the ritual circle. I clung to that thread of familiarity. Pain that felt so alive.
