Chapter 79

VALERIA

A cold, creeping fear settled into my bones. This was worse than anything I had imagined.

I felt like the ground had disappeared beneath me, like I was falling into a bottomless pit. My knees wobbled, and I had to steady myself against Reese, who immediately wrapped an arm around me, his touch the only thing keeping me grounded.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, trembling with the weight of my fear. I looked up at Reese, searching for answers, for reassurance—anything to pull me back from the edge of despair.

Reese’s jaw tightened, and I could see the struggle in his eyes. He wanted to be strong, to be the rock I needed, but the fear was there, too, just beneath the surface. “Don’t worry, Valeria,” he said, his voice steady but strained. “We can’t lose hope. There has to be a way to save them.”

He pulled out his phone and started making calls, his voice urgent as he spoke to various contacts, trying to locate a healer. But with each passi