Page 135 of Molt

For one terrible moment, voices pour from her mouth.

Crying. Laughing. Begging. Names. Lives. Memories.

A century of women trapped beneath Lenora’s imprint.

Then Sarah screams one word. “GO.”

Something leaves her.

I don’t see it.

I feel it.

A pressure breaks. The second heartbeat inside her chest stops.

Mine.

My own heart stops with it.

I gasp.

Sarah grabs me. “No.”

I smile. Or try to. “I think...” Blood fills my mouth. “...that’s it.”

“No.”

“Sarah.”

“No.”

My body is failing rapidly now.

Not transferring.

Dying. Really dying.

Finally.

Skin loosens from my bones. What bones remain. My hair falls away in clumps. Teeth spill from my mouth. My fingertips blacken.

Sarah holds me tighter. “Stay.”

The word cuts deeper than anything.

I laugh weakly. “That’s how this started.”

Her face crumples. “Then don’t stay forever.”

I look at her.

“Just a little longer.”

So I do.

Seconds. Maybe minutes. I don’t know. Time becomes small.

Her hand in mine. Her face above me. Her tears landing on my skin. “Tell me something,” she whispers.