My chest heaved as I jerked upright, the sheets tangling around my legs like frantic vines. Air scraped against my throat. Pant. Pant. Pant.
My hand flew to my sternum, trying to pin down my runaway heart. It couldn't be. It had to be a nightmare.Trembling, I flipped my wrist over.
There it was. The jagged, dark line etched into my skin. It hadn't been a dream. Every horrific second of it had actually happened.
"Finally."
The voice didn't just break the silence; it dropped the temperature in the room by ten degrees. It was a low, resonant rumble—deep enough to vibrate right through the floorboards and into the soles of my feet.
I looked up, my breath catching.
