The world had reduced itself to two distinct temperatures. The biting, absolute zero of the wind against my exposed face, and the furnace-like heat of Guilermo’s chest where my cheek rested.
I was floating.
It wasn't a good floating. It was the weightless, sickening sensation of a spirit coming unmoored from its bones. My body felt heavy, a sack of lead and ice that Guilermo was hauling through the snow, but my mind was drifting upward, tethered only by the golden thread of his voice.
"Stay with me, Lilura. Don't you dare close your eyes."
He wasn't shouting. He was growling the words into the collar of his coat, a low-frequency rumble that vibrated through my ribs and kept my heart beating out of sheer obedience.
We were moving fast. His stride was long and uneven, slipping occasiona
