CHAPTER 38LUCIAN SLADE

Pain dragged me back to consciousness.

Not the sharp, blinding kind that explodes through bone and nerve, but the deep, suffocating ache that settles into muscle and marrow and refuses to leave. It pressed against my chest, my skull, my ribs. Every breath felt borrowed.

For a moment, I did not move. I listened.

The forest was quiet, but not empty. I could hear birds settling on branches, the distant rustle of leaves, the faint crackle of a fire nearby. Fire?

My brow ...