Chapter 194

Aria

When I come to, the first thing I notice is the pounding in my head. It’s brutal, like someone is hammering nails into my skull. My entire body feels heavy, but it’s my head that’s screaming the loudest. Even opening my eyelids feels like lifting stone slabs. Still, I force them open.

Everything around me is pitch black. There’s no light anywhere except a faint flicker outside…firelight, I think. I squint, trying to focus on the glowing flames dancing in the distance.

How did I even get here?

I try to move, but my leg burns the moment I shift. The pain shoots up my thigh like a wave of fire, and I groan softly. When I glance down, I see a cloth wrapped tightly around my wound. That’s when it all rushes back…Mark… he’s dead. And Lola… she took me after everything fell apart.

A voice breaks the silence. “You’re awake.”

I turn my head slowly, eyes adjusting to the glow of a torchlight. Lola walks toward me, her footsteps careful as she du