[Isolde]
The boat ride to shore seemed to stretch on forever or at least far longer than the ten minutes the pilot had initially estimated. But that extra time gave me the opportunity to explain everything that had happened in those frozen grey moments before I hit the water.
Nikolai listened with seriousness I rarely saw from him, his eyes never leaving my face as I described the figure hovering above the water, the way time had stopped, and the voice that had said "found you" with such chilling depth.
When I mentioned the earlier vision Death had shown me, the memory of Nikolai's childhood with Phoebe and his mother, his expression shifted to genuine surprise.
"That actually happened," he confirmed quietly. "Every detail you described. But I have no idea why you were shown that speci
