Nasya's POV
The hospital room was pitch black, but my enhanced vision pierced through the darkness, revealing Austin sitting in the corner.
Am I hallucinating? Or am I dead too—is this hell? Is that why I'm seeing Austin's ghost?
"You... you're alive?" The words left my lips barely louder than the hum of medical equipment, weighted with disbelief.
I distinctly remembered my healing attempt failing—Austin had been declared dead. Had I actually succeeded?
His answering chuckle held no mirth, just bone-deep exhaustion. "Barely. I was halfway across the death line when something - someone - yanked me back." He leaned forward, elbows resting on knees, and even in the dark I could see the way moonlight caught the silver streaks now threading through his once-pristine golden hair. The wolfsbane had aged him a decade in days. "It was you, the healer, wasn't it? That surge of power... I'd recognize your energy signature anywhere, Penelope."
