The first thing Roman felt wasn’t pain.

It was absence.

A deep, aching emptiness where warmth used to live, where Desiree’s presence usually shimmered through his bond like sunlight through glass. For a terrifying moment, he thought perhaps he had already crossed to the other side and had not known yet.

Then the pain came.

Terrible. Burning. Crushing.

It tore through his stomach, his ribs, his chest. It wrapped around his spine and dragged him back into his body.

His lips parted on a ...