Every movement sent shock waves of pain pulsing through me, but I couldn’t give up.
Once I’d reached her pelvic bone, I lunged for the rope, cringing at the crackling sound it made as I pulled myself upward.
Midway up the rope, the torch burnt out, leaving only the glow of the moon to guide me.
With each pull up the rope, the pain hit my torso like a thousand volts of electricity. Every inch was more agonizing than the last.
The remaining few feet were the hardest, seeing the edge of the crevice, having to muster up my last bit of strength to grab the metal cleat and pull myself out into the open air.
Grunting in pain, I dragged my broken body away from the edge of the chasm. The crops rustled along the perimeter, and I had a flash of remembrance. The boy from my vision, the one who stumbled out of the sacred circle and died in the corn—Katia told him to run, but she wasn’t trying to help him, she was feeding him to the corn. I also understood why he looked so familiar—the dark blond hair, the chiseled features. The boy from the vision was Thomas . . . my father.
Desperate to get away from the memories, I pulled myself out of the circle and through the corn. Dane’s scent was all around me. I wanted to call out, but I was panting so hard, I couldn’t find my voice. I rolled onto my back to try and catch my breath, but it only made it worse.
The gash in my head had already started healing, but something hard and sharp still sliced into my chest and back.
I gripped the stalks on either side of me, bracing myself as I found enough air for one last primal scream.
“Ashlyn,” Dane called as he tore through the field. When he found me, his smile faded into a grim line. “What happened?” he gasped as he kneeled beside me.
“Help me,” I whispered in agony.
“Please, tell me what to do.” His hands were clenched in front of him, like he didn’t know where he could touch me.
“My chest.” I winced, guiding his hand to show him where the pain was. It felt like my skin kept trying to heal around the foreign object, only to be sliced open again. As Dane lifted up my shirt, the color drained from his face.
“That bad?” I grunted.
Terror flashed in his eyes. “It’s a bone.”
“A cracked rib?”
“No, it looks like part of a femur.” He glanced down at my legs in confusion.
“It’s not mine,” I said. “There are dozens of skeletons in the chasm. Marie . . . all the Larkin girls. When I fell, it must’ve gone right through me. You need to pull it out.”
“I . . . I can’t. If I take it out you’ll bleed to death. It’s a miracle you haven’t already. It looks like it’s gone straight through your heart.”
“You have to do it,” I pleaded. “It will be okay.”
He looked less than convinced as he stared down at the blood pooling around me. But I couldn’t speak anymore; the pain was too intense. My vision started going gray and I desperately tried to hang on to the last bit of consciousness.
Reluctantly, Dane gripped the bone. “Should I take it slow or try to pull it out in one shot?”
I held up my finger.
“Ready?” he asked.
I closed my eyes and rested my head back on the soft earth.
He pulled. The pain was unbearable, like I was being flayed alive. But the bone wouldn’t budge; it seemed to be wedged between my ribs.
He stood, placing a palm on my shoulder for leverage. “You better not die on me.”
I wanted to laugh, but a searing pain ripped through me as he tore the jagged bone out of my chest. Blood came gushing from the wound.
“No, Ashlyn.” He kneeled, putting his hands over it.
“I’m the vessel,” I whispered. “I’m immortal—I can’t die.” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I said it aloud. “I never wanted this.”
Leaning back on his heels, he looked down at the blood on his hands. “I . . . I’m so sorr—”
“We need to find Rhys,” I interrupted. “You need to leave now.”
He picked me up in his arms. “First, I’m getting you out of this place.” As soon as he took a step toward the outer perimeter a pain unlike anything I’d ever felt before welled up inside of me. It felt like something was crushing me from the inside out.
I screamed in agony.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
He took another step forward and I could hear my ribs cracking beneath the pressure.
“Go back . . . take me back inside Quivira,” I yelled.
He rushed me through the corn. As soon as we broke through the perimeter, the pain subsided.
Gently, he laid me on the grass. “I don’t understand.”
“Katia won’t let me go. I can feel her inside of me. Please take my brother and Beth and leave.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he said through gritted teeth.
“After the ritual, I won’t remember Beth or you or my brother.”