Zayne POV

“Pain is proof you’re still alive.”

The first thing I felt was the weight.

Heavy, suffocating, like the earth itself was pressing down on my chest.

Then came the sound: the drip of water, the creak of shifting metal, the crackle of distant fire.

Pain followed next. A sharp, throbbing reminder that I hadn’t died in the blast.

Not yet.

I forced my eyes open. Smoke hung thick in the air, every breath cutting like glass.

The ceiling above me had caved in steel beams twisted, ...