chapter 23

"Run, Elara, run!"

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat. Sitting up brought a sharp, blinding pain to the back of my head, making me wince as I tried to focus. That voice-it was my mother's. I'd had nightmares of the day she left for as long as I could remember. No matter how hard I tried to forget, the memories haunted me, reminding me just how unlucky I was.

"Don't get up too quickly. Your wounds are healing, but slowly," a man's voice cut through the haze around me. Dizzy, I turned toward the sound, but I was still too disoriented to hold my head up. My vision blurred, my head throbbed painfully.

"My baby..." My hand flew to my stomach, fear surging through me. A shadowed figure approached, and instinctively, I felt fear.

"Rest," the voice soothed. "You and your miracle baby will be fine." A gentle hand pressed against my shoulder, urging me back down. I tried to resist, but I was too weak. Darkness tugged me under again, pulling me back into that suffocating sleep.

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