The world did not return all at once.
It came back in fragments.
Cold.
Then sound — distant, muffled, like it had to fight its way through layers of water.
Then pain.
Emily gasped.
Air tore into her lungs too fast, too sharp, sending her into a violent coughing fit. Heat surged with it, flaring uncontrollably beneath her skin. For a moment, the ground beneath her hands softened again—glass threatening to melt.
“Easy.”
Theodore’s voice.
Closer now.
Controlled—but no longer calm.
Something cool pressed against her shoulder. Not touch. Containment. The shadows around him had changed again, wrapping tighter, denser, forming a barrier between her and everything else.
Emily forced her eyes open.
Bad idea.
The world blurred and warped, colors bleeding into each other. The edges of e
