DRAKENFELL - GAMMA QUARTERS - THIRTY MINUTES BEFORE EXECUTION
The castle was empty in the way castles are empty when the living go to watch the dying, and Serena Drakenfell was the only person left behind.
Gav's breathing was ragged. Shallow, uneven pulls of air that sounded like they were being negotiated rather than taken, each inhale a concession his body grudgingly allowed before the next exhale tried to be the last.
Serena sat on the edge of the bed, her hand wrapped around his. His fingers were cold. They had been cold for hours, and she had been holding them for hours, and the warmth she was trying to push into him through her grip was accomplishing nothing and she refused to stop.
Dex had asked her point-blank before he left.
