Ethan stared at him in silence, allowing the words to settle gradually inside his mind.
Two weeks.
He had been unconscious for almost fourteen days.
The realization slowly unraveled memories buried beneath the darkness. He remembered being in the forest and conducting a forbidden ritual with his own blood, convinced that if he poured enough spiritual power into the forbidden ritual, he could force Dakota back to his side.
At the time, nothing else had mattered.
He hadn't stopped to consider the consequences because the only thing occupying his thoughts was bringing her home.
Then the backlash had come.
Even remembering it now made his chest tighten. The pain had been unlike anything he had ever imagined, as though an invisible force had torn through every vein, shattered every bone, and ripped apart his very soul.
