章 138: Chapter 138: Saving Chance

It took me a long time to pull myself, groaning, from the tile floor, even longer to help my brother, Nero, shake loose of his own lethargy, his big, blue eyes blinking slowly at me as though he had lost all thought and connection to his mind. When he finally shook off what Cadence's power had done to him, he remained groggy and slow, like me, though I had a feeling he didn't suffer the agony of endless emotion I did. I swayed at his side, clutching him while he clutched at me in return, a feeling of utter dejection and failure passing between us with such power I wasn't sure if it was me giving it to him or the other way around. Or, maybe, we were passing it like a beach ball of dread. Whatever the reason, it held us both in thrall for a long few minutes while the silent form of the young man I loved softly faded in the bed before us and the beeping of the machine he was hooked to called him with his slowing heartbeat to Undertown.