Aurora's POV
My head throbbed as consciousness crept back in, slow and cruel.
The first thing I felt was the cold stone beneath my palms. The second was silence. Not peaceful silence, but the kind that rang in my ears, thick and wrong. I pushed myself up with trembling arms, my breath shallow, my body still heavy from whatever they had done to me.
"Sarah," I whispered.
No response.
My heart slammed painfully against my ribs as I turned my head. Sarah was sprawled on the floor beside the bed, her body twisted unnaturally, her chest rising just enough to tell me she was alive. George lay a few feet away, face bruised, blood dried at the corner of his mouth.
"No, no, no," I muttered, crawling toward them.
I grabbed Sarah's shoulders gently, shaking her. "Sarah, wake up. Please. Wake up." My voice cracked. I pressed my ear to her chest, listening, counting each weak breath like it was a lifeline.
She didn't stir.
