Chapter 229

GIDEON

Consciousness didn’t return gently.

It hit like a violent shove from underwater, dragging me up so fast the air scraped my throat.

My eyes snapped open.

Darkness.

Silence.

And an unfamiliar weight pressing against my skull.

For a long moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. My limbs felt submerged in concrete. My vision blurred and steadied in uneven waves. The ceiling swam. The sha