He struggled to draw a breath and silence the agonized Noooooo! ricocheting through his brain. Her falling, the headache, the curse…this could not be happening. Not when they’d just found each other. Not when their future, only seconds ago, had bloomed so bright upon the horizon. Bludgeoning back the talons of fear clawing at him, he hoisted her into his arms and carried her to his bed, where he yanked back the burgundy counterpane, then settled her gently upon the mattress. Her complexion was waxy pale, her features bunched into a pain-filled grimace. “I’ve never had a headache such as this,” she whispered. “It feels as if the inside of my head is on fire and about to explode. Suffer the pain of hell’s headache. Philip tucked the covers around her, then sat next to her for a moment, holding her hand, and praying to every heavenly force he’d ever heard of to intervene. To save her. To help him find the missing piece of stone. Please, please, don’t take her away from me.
