Page 129 of The Heart Trials

That’s when it happens.

She slips to one side, her weight jolting the harness between us. I reach to grab her.

But my hand—

My hand won’t move.

It brushes against hers. Fingers to fingers. But there is nothing behind it. No strength. No control. Like trying to move underwater. Like trying to catch fog. “Fina,” I scream, but my words slur. My mouth is slow. My mind is faster than my body.

The harness strap snaps taut.

Then whips loose from my side.

A hook tears free.

She falls sideways, arms flailing, suspended in the open air.

Caelus lunges for her.

He’s too far.

Time drips. Slows. Warps.

She looks up at me. Brown eyes wide with pure, searing trust. A trust I didn’t have for Caelus. A trust I’ve never had for anyone.

She doesn’t scream.

She doesn’t panic.

She believes in me.

And then—she plummets.

43

Caelus is the first thing I see when I open my eyes.

The world swims in and out of focus, blurred at the edges, like I’m dreaming underwater. My throat is dry. I blink, and the room sharpens, just enough to register the faintest glow of sunrise filtering through sheer curtains. The air smells faintly of smoke and pine. I recognize the scent before the room: his room. His bed. A cold memory slices through the haze.

Serafina.

She was falling.

I gasp and sit up too fast. It feels like there is a hole in my chest where a heart used to beat. She’s gone. She’s really gone. She fell to her— I choke. I let her fall. I did this! My head swims, and I claw at the sheets, pushing them off as if I could shove off the grief. It hurts. It hurts so much.

My gaze is drawn to the bedside table like a moth to a flame, looking for the custom Heartfiller box the Benevolent gave me. I think of the good feeling he promised, and suddenly I crave it like I’ve never craved anything. Anything to end the pain.

But I blink and see Caelus’s bedside table, not mine. It’s not here.

“I need it,” I rasp. My arm sweeps the table clumsily, and a few things crash to the floor, none of them my Heartfiller. All I can see is Serafina’s face. Growing smaller. No. No. “Where is it!” Every second I can’t find the Heartfiller, a heavy, relentless pain wedges itself deeper into my heart. It feels like if it burrows deep enough it could break me beyond repair. I have to stop it. I need the Heartfiller.

I see Caelus across his room, shoving things in a bag hidden behind his wall mirror. He pulls the bag onto the bed, stuffing it with things of mine from my room. A few jewels, a fine dress. Items I can sell. But I blink, my lashes fluttering, none of it registering. He strides toward me.

“Caelus, did they find her…Have you seen her?” My legs buckle the moment I try to stand. “Could I see her one last time?”

“Ssshhh,” Caelus whispers, gently pulling me to him. He casts a cautious gaze over his shoulder at his door. “She’s alive. She’s not conscious, but she’s alive. That’s what they told me.”

Tears rise so fast I can’t breathe. “Who?” I croak. “And how do you know? She fell—she—she—”