#Chapter 165 – Heart in Ruins

Damon The acrid stench of smoke clung to the back of my throat, every breath scraping like glass. I didn’t feel the heat anymore. My palms were already torn open, the skin split and raw, streaked red against the soot that blackened everything. The fire had gutted part of the eastern wing, left it in smoldering ruin, and still…I dug. Stone by stone. Beam by beam. My muscles screamed with the effort, but I couldn’t stop. The moment I did, I’d have to accept what they were all whispering. That she was gone. That the fire had taken her. That the mate I’d sworn to protect had burned within my own walls. No. Zane howled inside me, a feral, keening sound that rattled my ribs. She’s here. She had to be here. Keep going. I flung aside another jagged chunk of timber, coughing when sparks burst loose from the blackened edge. My hands bled, nails threatening to crack, but the pain didn’t matter. Only the next stone. Only the next chance to find Lila mattered. “Your Maj