CHAPTER 23 RED DOOR
POV Mercy Once I finally caught my breath, the words felt like jagged, unpolished stones scraping against my throat. "I have no clear diagnostic on what just occurred," I rasped. The uncharacteristic trembling in my vocal cords fueled a sharp, sudden spike of internal irritation. "The sensation... it was mathematically too much. It felt as though my ribcage was being crushed by a physical weight I could not visually identify." Gideon pulled back slightly, though his massive, calloused hands remained firmly splayed over my shoulders, anchor points against my tremors. "I think what you just had is called a panic attack, Little Bird," he said. His voice was unusually soft, completely stripped of its typical gravelly, street-bred bravado. "Poppy had a joy weave in that bite of apple fi
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