Chapter 191

Author It had been three days since the alley. Since Mara. Noah figured she wasn't real. Just a mix of painkillers, fever, and regret playing tricks on him. But her scent stuck with him. Sharp, wild… like rain on rock. The meds were fading fast. Pontus's so-called fix was burning through him like acid. He hadn't touched food in hours. He hadn't slept. But he'd answered Silvia 's text with a lie and clung to it like it meant something. Tonight, the pain was different. Deeper. Like something inside him had cracked open. He was halfway to the floor of his apartment when the lights flickered and the air turned sharp. Cold. Mara stepped out of the shadows like she'd always been there. " Still don't believe in magic ? " she asked, voice calm, almost amused. Noah sank to the floor, breath ragged. " I believe in pain. That's about it. " She crouched next to him, calm and focused. Her eyes were dark, still, like midnight water. She slowly opened her hand. The stone sat in her palm. Black as pi