>>Aelin
My heart lurched in panic as I reached out to steady him, my hand pressing against his back as the fit wracked through him again.
"Draegon—hey, breathe, look at me," I said quickly, moving to kneel in front of him.
He clenched his eyes shut, struggling to clear his throat, and I could see the tension in his jaw, the way he was trying to hold himself together.
My fear twisted into something deeper.
And just like that, my thoughts of being unworthy vanished.
Because if something was wrong with him… if he was hurting...
I didn't want to imagine a world without him in it.
His coughing didn't stop, my heart a wild, frantic thing in my chest as I reached for him again, desperate to help. But Draegon only turned away, shaking his head faintly as another violent tremor wracked through his body.
Then a terrible thought surfaced from the dark corners of my mind.
The abyss corrupts, Ruoxy had once said something along those lines. Those who are exposed too long… change.
