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I’ve only seen one other person with eyes like that.

There’s a shift in the air around him. It’s thick, draining, like just being this close is enough to make me dizzy.

“Who are you?” I ask, taking a slow step back.

He breathes in deep, the corners of his lips lifting. “The better question is, what is a human doing in my world?”

Leaving. I turn to do just that, ready to hightail it to literally anyplace else.

“Wait.”

It’s like an invisible wall crashes down around me, compelling me to do exactly as he asks. My heart pounds in my chest, but he doesn’t advance on me. Instead, he pulls a white rose from his sleeve, running his hand over top of it. The entire thing lights up in icy blue flames, swaying like magic in the still air. “A gift.”

I stare in wonder, transfixed by the dancing inferno. It swallows the flower, encompassing even the stem, but it doesn’t ash.

“It won’t burn you,” the cloaked man says, holding the rose out to me.

Even if I wanted to stop, I couldn’t. My mind doesn’t feel like it belongs to me. Like it isn’t mine.

My palm glides over the flickering beauty, ready for the warmth of the flame. No heat radiates from the plant, even as I brush my fingers against the soft petals.

“Look closer.” He pushes it nearer, and I grab it by the leafy stem, unable to stop myself, unable to take my eyes off the captivating gift from this stranger.

My finger grazes one of the thorns, sharp enough to draw blood. The flames flicker and dim, their fiery glow shifting to a deep, shadowy blue. They coil downward, curling along the stem and sinking into my open wound.

The rose slips from my hold, falling to the ground as my gaze fixes on my hand, seeing a small ink-like mark where the cut should be.

A buzz begins to stir in my ears, faint, like a whisper. And then it grows, rising until the sound is crawling inside my head. The world starts to turn around me, spinning in opposite directions. Everything is so…fuzzy.

“I feel strange,” I say to the man. I think I need to lie down for a while. If I could just get home…

Home. Where is that? Where am I?

A low chuckle dances through the wind. I search for the source, but the space where the stranger stood is nothing more than empty air.

The night is heavier now, almost suffocating, and a wave of confusion washes over me. I need help. I need…

My knees give out, and I fall to the ground.

Fire. There is fire inside me. It is twisting my insides, stripping me of my own thoughts.

Only one name hangs on the precipice of my mind. Only one face.

Using every ounce of effort, I fumble for my Thornlink, trying to get my fingers to dial his number. Each movement feels impossible, every breath bringing me closer and closer to the dark void threatening to swallow me whole.

Nothing works anymore. Not my hands. Not my mouth. Not my legs.

I can’t do it. The pain is too much. My hand trembles uselessly. I want to scream for help, to cry out his name. It’s like I’m trapped inside myself, conscious but unable to act, while the world around me spins out of reach.

Just as I’m ready to surrender entirely, the screen in my hand flashes to life, Rhenn’s name glowing across it.

A flicker of strength pulses through me. Of hope.

With the last bit of control I can muster, I drag my thumb across the accept call button, ready for the lifeline I pray he can bring me.

“Vix? Where the fuck are you?” The words he chooses suggests anger, but his voice is thick with worry, like he can hear the cracks forming around me—sense the chaos unraveling beneath my core.

No response comes as I struggle to inhale, gasping for any air to enter my lungs.