Serena yanked the dagger from her lung with a broken gasp. Gold blood splattered the leaves beneath her.
She fell to her knees.
"Run, Serena!" Elara yelled, tears streaking down her face, bronze eyes wide and frantic.
She raised a second dagger, her hand shaking.
But Serena couldn't have run if she tried. Her body refused to answer.
Elara's arm jerked upward, the dagger angling toward Serena's chest again.
"No," she choked, teeth clenched. Her muscles shook violently, as she fought her own hand.
With a broken cry, she plunged the blade into herself instead.
Her bronze eyes snapped back to green.
"Serena," she rasped, collapsing to the ground, "Get away from me or knock me out."
Her body went slack, breath ragged, blood soaking into the forest floor beneath her.
Serena crawled to her and pulled the dagger free. She dragged the blade across her palm, gold blood spilling onto Elara's wound.
