AZREN
Noelle's still holding my face, her thumbs brushing my cheek. Her words come in waves. They're clear one second, drowned out the next by the roaring in my ears.
"...Sabrina... spell... made you distance yourself from me..."
The sentence lands in fragments.
I blink hard, trying to force the pieces together, but the headache in my skull vibrates, leaving me dizzy. A hot trickle slides over my upper lip. I taste copper.
Blood.
I lift a shaking hand to wipe it away, but more comes, dripping onto my fingers. Noelle gasps softly and reaches into her bag, pulling out a pack of wipes. She presses one gently to my nose, dabbing like I'm made of glass.
"Azren," she whispers, her voice cracking. "Look at me. Please."
I try.
Her face swims in and out of focus. The voices laugh louder, o
