HADES
The painstaking hours that passed were the longest of my life, and all I could do was hold her. She didn't stir—not once. My heart remained perpetually lodged in my throat. The world blurred into nothing; all that existed was her and her fading heartbeat.
My heart didn't race—it beat slowly, in sync with hers. Everything about her was fading, dwindling. Her scent. Her presence. Her warmth. I gripped her tighter as if I could pull her back together, as if she were slipping through my fingers.
Hours later, still, none of the Deltas spoke. Not that I could have heard them anyway. The only update was that more Deltas had arrived—most of them from the Shadowhunt division. The last time I had managed to pull myself out of the haze in my mind, they were healing the other Gammas.
