Seraphina flung herself at the side of the hospital bed, her voice trembling. “Magnus, I’m right here! It’s me, Seraphina. I’m here!”
But Magnus looked right through her. “No… not you…” he rasped, trying to sit up as the IV line jerked. “I need to see my Eve… She promised–she said she’d never leave me…”
His words dragged me back in time.
I was fourteen, burning with fever one winter night, curled up in his arms, delirious. I had murmured, “Magnus, please don’t go… I’ll be good from now on… I’ll never leave you…”
He had wrapped me in a blanket, his hand warm against the back of my neck, his voice softer than the crackling fire in the hearth. “Alright. Sir Magnus isn’t going anywhere. Our Eve always keeps her word.”
