The Impossible Breath

VANCE’S POV

Come back.

I’m right here. I’m holding on.

Come back to me.

I need you.

I need you, or we both die in this room.

The temperature drops. Not suddenly, but in degrees, like a dial being turned slowly.

The golden glow at Roland’s chest pulses once, twice, three times, then begins to fade—the silver in Rowan’s eyes thins, brown bleeding through like dawn coming up behind clouds.

The house