AVERY’S POV:
I don’t know how long I was out. Time slipped away like sand through my fingers, but the overwhelming heat jolted me back to consciousness. My body burned. No, it wasn’t just hot—it felt like the very air around me had ignited, biting in on my skin with the fury of a flame.
I blinked, fighting against the blur clouding my vision. Something burned, and something was on fire. The haze of flames flickered in my peripheral vision, but the world around me was still swimming, out of focus. I groaned, my throat raw as if I’d screamed for hours, but my lips barely moved. I tried to focus again, blinking rapidly, forcing my eyes to steady themselves.
I felt the pain. My head was pounding, my nose was bleeding, and when I tried to move, I felt the jagged pull of my body against the
