She was slipping.
Seconds away from death.
Zaara's fingers clung to the edge of the final platform, her body dangling above the churning lava. One slip. One breath too late…and she'd be gone.
Her eyes found mine. Shimmering with fear and something worse…acceptance.
I wasn't supposed to care.
But something… twitched inside my chest. A sharp, electric tug like a wire being yanked. Something I hadn't felt in what felt like centuries.
I didn't think. My body just moved.
I ran.
The heat smacked me in the face as I dove back toward the edge of the last platform. My knees slammed against the metal as I dropped down, just as her hand shot up.
I caught it.
The second our skin touched, something in me short-circuited.
It wasn't just her hand. It was her pulse, her fear, the way her eyes was filled with tears. The way it never left mine. As if I were the only thing tethering her to this world.
