Chapter 76

Maeve’s POV

Arrgghh!

I groaned in pain. Every muscle ached, and a merciless throb pulsed in my skull, hammering nonstop against my temples. My entire body felt as though it were aflame, the fierce surge of magic roaring through me. It was familiar—too familiar.

“Sweetheart,” a voice both intimate and strangely foreign called softly. “Wake up.” A warm hand brushed my side. “It’s time to wake up,” the voice repeated, urgency threading through its tone.

I tried to pry my eyes open, but a fresh spike of agony slammed into my skull, and I clenched my teeth, unable to rise above the pain. It intensified, shattering my resolve. Inside me, chaos churned.

“Sweetheart, wake up,” the voice urged again, gentle but insistent.

With a guttural groan, I summoned every ounce of strength and forced my eyelids apart. Light flooded in so fiercely I squinted, struggling to focus. I couldn’t see shapes—only hear faint echoes of voices, whispers I half-recognized