I lay on the ground in the clearing, waiting for them to start.

"Tyler and Danny, hold him and don't let him go until I tell you. I can't take the chance he will try to stop me if he sees her get worse," Nathaniel instructed.

"We've got him," Tyler replied.

In that moment I hated the Archaic and what they were doing to me against my will.

"I'm going to start to drain you, Ava," I heard Nathaniel say to me. Didn't he know that I didn't care? I felt nothing. None of this mattered to me. All I wanted was the connection I had with Mason. That was the only thing that mattered to me.

I felt Nathaniel place his one hand on my forehead, and the other hand on mine. My skin started to burn, and then I could feel the gentle pull of energy through the connection of our skin. Unable to pull away or struggle, I groaned as I became weaker. As I weakened the moaning stopped. As the energy began to leave my body so did the pain and the burning need for Mason. I was entirely numb. The desperate need slowly vanished with my energy. I didn't need him anymore, and for a brief, relieving moment there was no pain.

I breathed.

My heartbeat began to slow. I could feel the physical effects of the drain of energy on my body. I was dying, and my body was beginning to shut down. My breathing became shorter and a new pain began to spread through my body. I could feel my whole body start to slow down as I gasped for breath. I couldn't breathe. I was going to die.

My blood slowed in my veins.

In an echo, as if in a dream, I heard someone say, "Let him go."

I felt the pain disappear and then I felt nothing. I was finally free of the pain, I thought. I was wrong.

A sharp stab of agony entered my chest. The pain increased as the energy pushed into my broken body. I couldn't move and I couldn't utter a word as the searing pain from the new energy entering my body intensified until I thought I was going to die.

It felt like an electrical current jolting through my body, making my body spasm uncontrollably.

The darkness of death surrounded me and I wanted give in. But I'd promised Jared I would fight. As the energy spread from my chest to the different parts of my body, so did the spasming pain. There were no words to describe the agony that spread through nearly every inch of my battered body.

It felt like every single cell in my body was being jolted with the energy. I wanted to scream and never stop, but I couldn't make a sound. Just when I thought the pain couldn't get any worse, it did, until finally its intensity remained constant.

"Please, you promised me," I heard Jared plead before the darkness descended.

I drifted back into consciousness. The reason I knew that was because I could feel the pain again. It was agony.

"Ava, can you hear me?" I heard Jared whisper. I couldn't answer him back because I couldn't move and I couldn't feel anything on the outside of my body. Every particle of my being inside felt alive, like electricity vibrating in me.

How long had I been out? I didn't know how much longer I could take this. I wanted to beg for someone to stop the pain. It was too much.

Time ticked by. The only thing I could concentrate on was the agony that spasmed inside of me. It didn't feel like it was easing up at all. I didn't know how long I'd been wrestling with this indescribable pain. I lay there, wishing for the pain to stop, but it was pointless because it was unending.

Jared whispered comforting words to me and I held on to the sound of his voice, like a beacon of light in the darkest storm.

The next time I regained consciousness, the pain was still there, but it had eased slightly. It was still a throbbing pain pulsating in my body. I tried to move my hand. It moved, and then I felt a hand holding my other hand.

I opened my eyes. It was dark. My eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness as I scanned the room. It was Jared's bedroom. I could see him sitting in a chair next to my bed. He was sleeping. He looked exhausted. I tried to sit up, but the pain was too much and I felt a wave of dizziness so I lay back down.

For a few minutes, I lay there and watched Jared sleep. He looked so peaceful. I held his hand tightly. It was comforting to touch him. I slowly brushed my thumb over the side of his hand. While I was watching Jared, I drifted off to sleep.

It must have been a while later because the next time I woke up, the sun was shining through the open curtains.

The pain had been replaced with an ache. Everything ached.

"Ava." It was Jared. He was awake and he was still sitting in the chair next to my bed.

I looked at him.

The sight of him warmed my heart.

He looked relieved as he grasped my hand with both of his. I tried to move, but I was still sore. Every muscle felt stiff with even the slightest movement. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath.

I'd survived. It had been a miracle. A miracle I had desperately needed. Tears gathered and slid down the sides of my face. They were tears of relief.

"It's okay," he soothed while he brushed my tears away. "You're going to be fine."

He pressed a brief kiss to my forehead. I still couldn't believe I'd survived and that I was going to be okay.

"You survived," he whispered. He pressed a light kiss to my lips. It felt like heaven.

"I want to heal you but I'm scared of what effect it will have on the altering," he explained. I understood. Besides, the pain was gone now. I was still sore, but that was nothing compared to what I had endured.

"Did it work?" I whispered faintly. I hoped it had worked because I couldn't do it again. I wasn't strong enough to go through that again. If I'd known how bad it was going to be, I wouldn't have been able to do it in the first place.

"We think so."

Good.

"Tired," I whispered to Jared.

"Sleep. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here when you wake up," he soothed as he pressed another kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes and let exhaustion claim me.

It was dark the next time I woke up. Soft light illuminated from the side lamp on the side table next to the bed.

"Hey," I heard Jared say. True to his word, he'd stayed with me. His beautiful green eyes lit up and he smiled at me.

"Hey," I said.

I tried to sit up. I felt Jared hold me up by my upper arms and position me sitting up against the headboard of his bed.

"Thanks."

"You still need to take it easy," he instructed.

My throat was sore.

"Here," he said, handing me some water, and I took a few sips. The coolness soothed the dryness in my throat.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes searching mine.

"Much better," I said.

When I remembered how bad the pain had been, I shuddered. I didn't want to ever think about that again. I wanted to lock that memory in a deep hidden part of my mind and never relive it again.

My eyes drifted down to the wrist I remembered cutting. The skin looked perfect. There was no mark at all.

"I want to see myself," I said to Jared when I remembered cutting my throat.

"Are you strong enough to walk?" he questioned with concern.

"Yes," I said.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see.