Chapter Forty-Six

Ethan got up, panting for breath. The world around him was a whirling mass of shadows and light, and for a minute, he wasn't beyond any doubt if he was still falling or if he had hit the ground. The strong brightness of Clara's last assault waited in his vision, making afterimages that moved within the dull.

He rapidly realized that he was lying on strong ground, the hard surface cold against his skin. The torment in his body was a gloomy throb, and each muscle felt like it had been put through a grinder. But he was alive, which was something.

“Selene… Lena…” he croaked, his voice scarcely over a whisper. He constrained himself to sit up, each movement sending shocks of torment through his body. His eyes gradually balanced to the obscurity, and he could make out two shapes lying a number of feet absent.

With extraordinary exertion, Ethan crept over to them, his heart beating in his chest. “Please be okay,” he mumbled beneath his breath, stretching out to touch Selene's bear. She moane