SERAPHINA’S POV

He picks up my hand, holding onto it tightly like I might slip from his fingers, placing it against his beating heart, and staring right into my soul with a precision that leaves me breathless.

"This isn’t your fault, baby. Don’t you feel that? Don’t you feel my heart? You’re the life that keeps it beating, Sera. I realized that when I ran into that fire to find you. I realized then - it has become essential for me to always find you, to always love you, and my heart ...