A cold sickness crawls up my spine.
Nala is staring straight through me. My reflection swims in her green almond eyes, but there’s nothing behind them. No recognition. No fear. No life. I wave my hand in front of her face. Nothing. Click my fingers beside her ear.
Still nothing.
If a slap didn’t wake River, I don’t even know where to begin with her.
I swallow hard. I don’t want to hurt her, but that thing could come back at any second, and whatever it wants with her makes my stomach twist.
“I’m sorry, Nala,” I whisper, guilt threading every syllable.
Her hand is rigid in mine, cold and unyielding. I summon the light anyway.
A bright, searing orb blooms at my fingertips. The flames curl into her palm, licking her skin. Heat crackles through my fingers like static, wild and buzzing. The orb doesn’t burnme,but the sound does it for me.
A sharp sizzle.
Her skin blisters beneath the light.
I flinch, nausea rising as the smell hits my nose, my grip tightening even as my heart screams for me to stop.
Please wake up.
“Ah.”
She winces violently, eyes flying open as a thick, black substancewormsits way out of her ear. It leaves a slick, tar-like trail down her cheek before hitting the floor with a wet, nauseatingthump. The thing recoils, thenslithersaway, impossibly fast, vanishing before I can even register what I’m seeing.
“What thefuckare you doing?” she snaps, yanking her hand from mine. She scrubs at her cheek with her sleeve, disbelief etched across her face, but the more she looks around, the more confusion takes hold.
“Where am I?” Her head whips from one end of the room to the other, eyes skimming over the unmoving bodies surrounding us—silent, hollow, wrong. Her breath stutters. “What am I doing here?”
“No time,” I breathe, calling out to Ryder. “Heat works! Let me try River.” I usher Nala to follow and sprint toward him as fast as I can.
Grabbing River’s fist, I heat it like meat on a grill while Nala tends to her burns. The smell of burning flesh churns my stomach, but I stay focused until River moves.
“Ouch! What the fuck, Asha!” River yells, but his gaze shifts to Ryder as a black substance drips from his ear. Ryder stamps on it quickly before looking at me, startled. “What are you doing on the Sun side? Do you have a death wish?”
“Look around, lightbulb—there are no sides in this room. Asha just saved you. Everyone in here is fucked if we don’t get them outright now,” Ryder says, his voice stripped of any warmth.
River looks stunned, mouth opening to argue, but I cut in before he can.
“Give me your hands—both of you.” I glance at River, then Nala. They obey, placing their hands in mine. Power humsbeneath my fingers as I seal the burns, weaving new flesh over damaged skin. “There you go. Good as new.”
I release them. They stare down at their hands, flexing their fingers as the last traces of damage fade.
“Thanks, Asha,” Nala says slowly. “Now remind me—what the fuck are we doing here?” Her gaze sweeps the room. No one moves. She elbows a kid beside her. Nothing. “And why is no one else moving?”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “We’d just left the Shadow Realm when Ryder sensed something wrong with River—”
“You’re welcome,” Ryder cuts in, flashing River a wink. I roll my eyes.
“And then we came back to the school,” I continue, “but no one was there—”
“Long story short,” Ryder interrupts again, clearly done with exposition, “we followed some blond kid here and found you—and the rest of the school—hypnotised by some shadow man.” His jaw tightens. “Point is, we’ve got to move. Now. That thing could be back any moment.”
“What about everyone else?” Nala asks, eyeing up Trina in the corner. My eyes catch hers, and for a moment, I see something twinkle in her eyes. The same glint that shimmers in mine when I look at Ryder.
Had I missed this?
