Sylas inhaled slowly, a breath that sounded more like an attempt at restraint than air. He reached toward Zeke, fingers poised to pry the boy away from the unmoving body in his arms.
Zeke clung tighter.
His voice was wrecked, "I can't. I...I can't let him go. He's still warm. He— he has to be..."
Sylas's tone was too soft for the devastation carved into it, "Kai," He said softly, "Look at him. He isn't breathing,"
Zeke's fingers twitched, and his pupils trembled like shattering glass.
He knew. He just needed someone else to say it for him.
Sylas reached out again, this time firmer, pulling gently at Zeke's grasp. Zeke resisted, his teeth clenched hard enough to bleed.
"Hellcat wouldn't die this easily," Zeke choked, "It's not...he won't. He would never..."
Sylas swallowed, jaw flexing tightly.
Zeke shook violently from grief, still unwilling to let go.
But before Sylas could speak again, a sound split the night.
