Bound To Ruin
The world blurred—a smear of shadows and gold, of movement I couldn’t track, of sound too loud and too close.
Air burned. I gasped for it, mouth opening on instinct, drinking it in like I’d been drowning in silence. My heart thundered against my ribs, a frantic, clumsy thing too big for my chest.
A sound broke near me—a choked gasp, a ragged sob, I couldn’t tell. But it was real. It was close. And then warmth—so much warmth—closed around my hand. A touch I knew. A grip I’d felt in dreams. Fingers trembling, wrapping around mine like they were afraid I’d vanish again.