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Viktor’s face begins to e inflamed and red The veins in his neck appear on the surface, hard and bulging andlike worms underneath the surface of the skin But under his eyes and around his cheeks and temples, tiny veins appear that are black Ara her throat and her lungs Her bloody gloved-hand co over the edge of her index finger She knows this is her chance to run away, that she’s wounded hio back to the safety of her farounds her boots to the snow Viktor’s eyes have becoles to breathe; his throat seizing rapidly at the air al on it His bloodied hand still presses abrasively against his chest

And suddenly, as if his whole body has turned to stone, every muscle ceases to move and his expression locks in a horrific, painful display He falls face forward into the snow and doesn’t ainst her storasp at one another in a restless, chaoticthe pastsoain She rips away running through the snow-covered forest, trippingher way to the edge of the valley She has run for so long and so hard that when she makes it out of the cover of the trees, she falls to her hands and knees, gasping for air and dry-heaving violently before finally able to expel the food in her stoainst the snow, covered only by the inadequate warmth of her coat Her hands and feet are cold to the bones, but she can’t go any farther The weight of what she experienced coness to push further; Aramei is doomed to lie in the snow until someone finds her, or until death claims her

Chapter 15

Present Day – In the Cabin

MY MIND IS HURLED from Ara past me so fast and unexpected that I couts up My back arches as I heave violently onto the floor, a pool of voain as the revolting stench rises intoup the stairs

I’ to catch my breath and I move inches away from the vomit and roll over onto , tripling, until finally it pulls together into focus Eva kneels down beside ainsthair from my forehead "You’re done for the day," she says with resolution in her voice

I still can’tthe patterns and swirls in the wooden rafters dance in front of my eyes, but I don’t actually see any of it All I see are the memories of the vision I just ca to help me up, but I ainst the floor "I have to see o back under"

"Adria, I--"

"If Araoing back in"

Reluctantly, Eva nods and gives in to me, but there’s no absence of disquiet in her face

Eva pushes herself back into a stand and wrings out the cloth that always sits on the table next to Araoes to clean my face I let her I lay still on my back as the cool cloth moves across my forehead first to wipe away the sweat, and then around my mouth I shutup to the coolness of it After lying here for a ain I coelic, sleeping face I never say a word I can’t I can never possibly describe to anyone how much I feel for her, because no one would understand Not even Isaac But ht me closer to her than even her own sister had been Because I feel her e everything that she sees and hears and tastes and smells and touches It’s as if we are sisters, but share so much more with each other than anyone can possibly know

And I’ve beco her life through her eyes And I truly want to help her I know better than anyone her pain and life I could’ve been her I keep saying that to myself over and over: I could’ve been her

But she never had a choice She never even had a chance Not like I did Infecting her very likely would not have turned out the same as me I don’t doubt for a second that Aramei would’ve died and that’s why Trajan never risked it

Araht there with her in these visions She wants h I still have yet to understand what for

I have to know And soon Because her eain without o I barely hear her when she quietlythe floor where I had my little accident I keep aze away And now I stroke her face again with ers and whisper softly near her mouth, "I know you can show me more"

I can feel her steady breaths on my lips Her eyes don’t flutter and she doesn’t move any ive her tins of being ‘coherent’ again