White.
Not light. Not magic. Not moonfire.
Just white, swallowing everything, swallowing me.
A ringing fills my head—sharp, metallic and endless. Like the world cracked open and the sound poured through the fractures. I don’t know where my body is. I don’t know if I have one. I don’t know if I’m breathing or just remembering how breathing felt.
Somewhere far away, someone screams.
It takes me too long to realize it’s me.
My throat burns. My lungs seize. Something—something—is crushing my ribs from the inside out. A force that’s too big for my body and too angry.
I hear Jaxon shouting my name—no, not my name.
“Sunshine—look at me—stay with me—”
His voice sounds like it’s underwater.
I try to reach for him but my fingers don’t move. I try to breathe my lungs don’t respond. I try to
