Silver

Chapter 38

Everything was dark. My heart echoed inside my head, pounding violently as I struggled to breathe in the heavy smoke. I wasn't dead- of that much I was sure. The pain searing across my body made that quite clear. My dislocated wing was enough to make me want to scream, but I could hardly breathe as it was. I couldn't even open my eyes.

I was warm, encased by something hard that refused to let me go. I tried to wiggle a little bit, but my body screamed in pain, so I didn't try any further.

What had happened?

I tried to think back.

Fire. Death. Pain.

Grey had jumped in after me when the Notre Dame's roof gave way under the fire. My wing had been dislocated so I couldn't fly out and save myself. There had been an inferno below me when I'd begun to fall. If he hadn't caught me, I might've died.

Siena.

Siena had told him to come save me, even as she was pinned down against her own collapsing roof. Was she okay? God, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she'd died for me. Not her. Not after everything she's done.

Oh God. Makenna.

Makenna, the person who had dragged me to the party that night I'd first met Grey. My constant companion through organic chemistry. She was gone. She'd had no idea what was going on up until the very end. I remembered that glazed over look in her eyes when she realized I couldn't save her. That would haunt me until the day I died.

Grey.

Grey had wrapped his wings around me the second he caught me, using his own body as a shield when we hit the fire. He hadn't reached me in time to get us both out of there. Was he okay?

My heart pounded violently in my chest. Suddenly, I couldn't think of anything else. I needed to wake up. I needed to make sure Grey was okay. He needed to be okay. If he wasn't-

I couldn't even think about that.

I groaned, yanking myself out of my blissful unconsciousness. Part of me wished I'd stayed knocked out. My body felt like it was on fire. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be. Everything around me was black, covered in ashes. I coughed a few times as I sat up with a groan.

My wings, normally a slate grey, were covered in black soot. My right wing was bent out of my shoulder at an unnatural angle, making me wince at the mere sight. Thank God for adrenaline, otherwise I'd be feeling the brunt of all this pain. My battle suit was singed and torn, exposing ripped bits of my skin that had yet to heal. I wonder if the ash was getting in the way of my healing.

I blinked a few times, glancing around.

Where was Grey?

Okay, now I was petrified.

Where was Grey?

My eyes frantically scanned the area around me for anything that could be his body, narrowing in on a soot covered figure a foot away from me.

I screamed in agony as I dragged my limp body over to his. His heart- why couldn't I hear his heart?

"Grey," I breathed, my voice cracking. "Grey."

Nothing.

I wiped the soot from his face, his beautiful, beautiful face. "Grey, you wake up right now," I croaked, leaning my ear down to his lips to see if he was breathing.

Nothing.

My heart pounded furiously in my chest and I felt my soul scrape against the underside of my skin frantically.