Chapter 158

KEIRAN’S POV

Aria’s body hit the ground before I could stop her, crumpling like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

I froze for half a second, my mind racing. What had just happened? My heart sank as I rushed to her side and knelt beside her, shouting her name.

“Aria! Aria, stay with me!” I called, shaking her gently, but her eyes were closed, her face pale. The sound of her shallow, uneven breaths made my chest ache. She looked so fragile—too fragile.

That’s when I saw it—the bite mark on her neck, red and swollen, with faint black streaks spreading out from it. My stomach twisted as realization hit me.

The poisonous bats.

“No, no, no,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. My fingers were trembling as I touched the mark. The poison was spreading—fast. “Damn it, no.”

She was still breathing, but it was weak. “Aria, you’re going to be okay. You hear me? Just…just hang in there.”