Prologue
Shanaya stumbled into the warehouse, breath tearing through her chest, each inhale sharp enough to hurt. The place was dark, too dark, just a few broken ceiling lights flickering like they were gasping for life.
Her footsteps echoed. So did her heartbeat.
“Aryan!” she yelled, voice already cracking. “ARYAN!”
Silence answered her. Cold. Heavy. Wrong.
She moved deeper inside, pushing past crates and shadows that looked like they were leaning in, listening. Her palms were shaking so hard she could barely keep the flashlight steady.
“Aryan, please—where are you?” Her voice broke mid-sentence, dissolving into the emptiness.
Then she saw it.
A shoe. His shoe.
Shanaya’s stomach dropped as she sprinted forward, nearly slipping on the dusty floor.
“Aryan?” she whispered this time, fragile, terrified.
And then her light landed on him.
Aryan was lying on the ground, half-conscious, blood running down the side of his forehead. His chest rose in shallow, uneven breaths. His fingers twitched like he was fighting to stay awake.
“No—no, no, no—” She fell to her knees beside him, hands cupping his face. “Aryan, open your eyes. Baby, please—look at me.”
His lashes fluttered. “Shanaya...” The word barely made it past his lips.
She let out a broken sound, something between a sob and a scream, and pulled him into her arms. “You can’t go! Do you hear me? You’re not leaving me. I just got you, I’m not losing you now!”
Her tears hit his skin, warm against the coldness spreading through him.
He tried to lift his hand to her cheek, failed, and whispered, “Run...”
“What? No! I’m not leaving—”
“Shanaya—behind—”
Something struck the back of her head.
Hard.
White-hot pain exploded behind her eyes, her entire body collapsing over his. The world twisted, blurred, and began slipping away.
Her last thought, even as darkness swallowed her whole, was his name.
Aryan.
