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Feeling Duskbreaker lunge from her side, Devika’s stomach dropped. She had chosen to stay and fight, she knew that, but watching him truly commit, teeth bared and snapping at the creature, was another matter entirely.

Then she saw the beast turn on her.

Its massive jaws yawned open, blotting out the world. Time seemed to slow, stretching into something heavy and surreal. She stared into its maw, into the rot and plague seething within, and her heartbeat, instead of racing, began to settle. Breath eased from her chest. Stillness washed over her like cold water.

She knew what she needed to do.

Blue eyes hardening with resolve, she crouched, gathering what strength she had, and launched herself toward its gaping mouth. Even as she flew, time crawled on, every inch between them marked by the promise of death. She shut her eyes just before she crossed the threshold of its teeth and accepted her fate.

The bite was immediate, white-hot agony tearing through her flesh. She wanted to scream, to give voice to the pain, but she swallowed the sound, refusing to let that be the last thing Duskbreaker heard from her.

She hoped, pleaded, that he would use this moment to flee. To survive.

If not for himself, then for her.