Page 48

CHAPTER 47

Reed

C onstant noise rings out above my head. Heaviness weighs down against me. I try to think, trying to remember what happened, but nothing beats the fire burning through my veins.

Pain, an absolute, all-consuming pain, drowns out most other sensations. Fire licks at my flesh, searing deep in my muscles. I feel my skin sloughing away in melted sheets.

Every nerve screams at me—torment, raw and exposed. It’s unbearable. The air itself claws at me, jagged glass ripping my insides apart.

I can’t take it anymore.

I’ve never felt this amount of pain before. It devours me, stretching each second into an eternity. It’s cruel and unforgiving.

I attempt to open my eyes, but even the smallest movement feels like a hot poker stick is being shoved under my skin.

Voices whisper around me, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. Not when every breath feels like a battle, a single movement bringing a wave of torment. My skin feels too tight, too fragile—being split into two.

No relief comes, no escape; it’s endless and unbearable. It’s consuming me, and I’m not even sure where it starts or where the pain ends.

The world outside blurs as a single touch has me screaming in pain.

My body forgets how to function; the air in my lungs gets trapped. Like a vice tightening around my ribs, breathing becomes impossible. My vision tunnels, dark edges creeping along as another wave of fire burns through my veins. I’m stuck on the edge of oblivion, teetering between the immense amount of pain and falling into the darkness.

It’s never-ending.