POV: Daniel

The storm had not abated. It had just moved into me.

Each breath tasted of iron. Each step sent fires crawling up my spine. The tether was no longer a cord between us. It was a thrum. A heartbeat. Ours.

I ran through the forest barefoot, rain lashing at my skin, mud sucking at my heels. The trees bent at the knees, their roots murmuring things I didn’t want to hear. Under the cacophony of the storm, I could hear her.

Clara.

Every beat of my heart. ...