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A warmth like I’d never felt before. A weighted blanket layered over my skin like swaddling. Or perhaps a cocoon of sorts, preparing me for a metamorphosis, an evolution to strip away all of my flaws, transitioning me into a flawless nubile state.

Yes. That was it. I would be made anew.

How long had I been here, wrapped in this comforting warmth? A day? A week? An eternity? All of them seemed likely answers in the crushing darkness.

There was no viable way for me to gauge the passing of time, as even my lungs had fallen still in this state. My heart rested motionless in the cavity of my chest—which most would find alarming—but the weight bearing down on me smothered any anxieties before they could seize my mind.

A voice, tenor and familiar in its cadence, buzzed around my ear. The words didn’t land cleanly but muddled themselves into nonsensical mutterings that grated against my nerves. Irritation bloomed in my tranquil mind, ripples distorting a still pond.

Who would disturb such blissful peace with their aimless ramblings?

Yet, the intruder’s voice continued, even after I had exhausted all efforts to ignore it. The volume only increased until it was no longer a bothersome insect flitting about my ear but a thunderous rumbling that rattled my bones.

I would never know solace again while this damnable noise droned on. Something had to be done.

Pulling against the weight of my limbs, I struggled to free myself from the invisible cocoon, but my restraints kept me immobilized, locked in place under a warmth that now grew stifling. Another rumbling wave of noise jolted me, and my lungs inflated to the point of pain. Breathing through the smothering blanket was nearly impossible, yet I gasped and wheezed, forcing air through the tight mesh that covered my lips.

This wasn’t right. I wasn’t supposed to feel pain. Pain was something that I’d left behind in this new form of mine. Did it finally catch up to me here, pursuing me into the darkness like a wild beast stalking its prey?

A pressure against my chest drew my attention next, increasing till my ribs groaned, threatening to crack. That damnable voice sounded in my ears once more, closer than ever. Words slowly began to seep through like drips of honey.

“—until it stops… even if we do… Lenny won’t be found… going till we get somewhere….”

Recognition flared in my mind, igniting dormant connections like lightning hitting brush. I knew that voice. I was certain of it. A character from a life before the cocoon. From before I was nothing but darkness and absence. Another wave of searing strength and my limbs moved, muscles coiling against the restraints until they cried out.

“Coming to… doesn’t react well… for most it’s jarring….”

The incessant voice was driving me mad! My fingers curled at my side, nails digging into the meat of my palms. My lungs inflated once more, pushing out the heavy darkness that filled my chest. Just as I tried to locate my tongue to voice my distaste for this agony, a burst of color exploded into my vision. Clouds of shapeless purples and greens swirled over me, replacing the colorless void. My muscles tensed again, an oppressive pattering rhythm battering my ears.

What was that infernal pulsing?

It took an endless collection of time to realize it was my heartbeat hammering away.

How bizarre it felt in place of the stillness.

“Breathe,” the tenor voice commanded, hot breath nipping at my ear. “Breathe, Tobias. You’re almost through it.”

Another gasp ripped through me as my body contorted, a fiery heat rushing through my veins. I’d never known such pain. It was as if every cell in my body was being ripped apart, only to be hastily stitched together again with jagged needles. The dancing colors slowly faded from my vision, replaced by a dull red glow that flared with each beat of my aching heart.

A sudden lurch in my stomach forced my body into motion, rolling onto my side as stinging bile choked me, and I wretched.

Strong hands gripped my shoulders, holding me in place as I heaved a second time. An acrid bitterness coated my tongue as I negotiated another agonizing breath.

“Is it always this messy?”

A second intruder to my peace. The higher pitch wasn’t familiar to me like the tenor was.

“Yes,” rumbled the lower voice. “My magic is starting to take hold. It shouldn’t be much longer now.”

“What a relief. He’s getting shit all over my rug?—”

Fresh pain radiated through me in a wave, swallowing the voice in a dull, rushing sound. Pins and needles stabbed at my dormant limbs, the once pleasant numbness replaced with static discomfort as my heart continued to hammer, pumping white-hot agony throughout my body.

A low, guttural moan welled in my chest, escaping through clenched teeth.

“Tobias,” the familiar voice rang in my ears. “Stay with me.”

Tobias. The name lingered, bringing with it a sense of revelation. I was Tobias before the smothering darkness took me. A life that I couldn’t recall through the crushing darkness. But if that’s who I was before, would the same still be true after I woke?

A sputter in my newly beating heart and the light behind my eyelids dimmed. The tension in my aching limbs released, pain withdrawing slowly as a pleasant numbness took hold.

That was better. I wanted to sink back into the comforting darkness, away from that persistent voice and its tortuous tone.

“Tobias? Tobias, can you hear me?”

The voice was getting farther away. Or perhaps I was. Either way, I was relieved at the slowing of the alien beating in my chest. I much preferred the stillness. The quiet. The comfort of weighted shadow as it began to settle over me once again, squeezing the air from my lungs.

“What’s happening?”

The other voice was distant, too. A tweeting songbird, miles away.

It wouldn’t be long. Sweet oblivion would soon take hold. I just had to make it through a few more moments of misery.

“—allowed to die, you son-of-a-bitch.”

A pressure on my chest, but it wasn’t as sharp as before. The numbness was close to completing its task. Soon, all that would be left was blissful nothingness.

“—working. Step back. I said step back!”

White-hot light filled my senses, sending shockwaves of pain through my body as every muscle contracted. My eyes sprang open, blinding brightness searing them. The smell of ozone filled my nostrils as the convulsion ceased, my heavy limbs falling still as the horrid beating of my heart assaulted my ears, louder than ever.

“Oh good, his eyes are open.” The staccato of heels clacking against smooth flooring assaulted my ears, then it spoke again, “I was starting to doubt you, handsome. Glad to see you’re not all talk.”

Blurred shadows moved against the background of searing light. Over the constant thumping of my own anatomy, other noises began to bombard me from all directions. The hum of electrical lights overhead, the rush of air from vents, the drumming of footsteps against wooden floorboards. They all felt like spikes jabbing into my skull.

“Can you hear me?”

The familiar voice wasn’t as sharp on my senses. It didn’t assault me like the clacking noise coming from the opposite direction. My head lulled to the side, moving slowly to catch a glimpse of whomever was speaking. But my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light, and all I could make out was the vague outline of a broad face.

“Blink twice for yes, once for no. Can you hear me?”

I blinked once, then again.

“Good,” the tenor cajoled. “Focus on the sound of my voice. I need you to take a deep breath for me.”

I inhaled, lungs expanding to the point of bursting.

“Great, he’s breathing,” the unpleasantly sharp voice stated. “Can you speed this up, please? We’re losing precious time.”

“No,” the tenor answered flatly.

I exhaled, the edges of my vision sharpening. Sunlight streaked in from windows opposite me, casting a large pool of gold light across the dark wooden floors. Exposed beams of wood ran along the ceiling overhead, and standing on the edge of an ornate rug, leaning against the arm of a plush-looking leather sofa, a woman with honeyed curls down to her shoulders watched me, her arms neatly folded over her navel.

“I don’t have to remind you what’s at stake here, Bastien,” said the woman, her full lips drawn into a pout.

My freshly beating heart skipped at the mention of the name, then?—

It burst through my mind like a dam rupturing, memories rushing in to fill the void left behind by the expansive darkness, too quick to make sense of: A bristly blanket atop a hill of crimson flowers bobbing in a gentle breeze. A moonlit stroll along a river of starlight. Soft fingertips pressed into the most sensitive parts of melanated flesh ? —

“Look at me.”

Warm hands cupped my face, steering me till I found a pair of golden eyes. I knew those eyes.

Bastien.

The name rippled through me, driving heat through my aching limbs.

“Keep breathing.”

I tried to form words, but my mouth was so dry, and my tongue buffeted against my teeth like sandpaper. I managed to coax a string of broken noises, but none of them hardly resembled words. I reached for Bastien, pushing through the agony of my screaming muscles, longing for the warmth of his honeyed skin—but another flood of memories halted me in place: Bastien, standing in the doorway, jacket tossed over his shoulder as he turned away, delivering words that bit into my skin like shards of glass. Tears, hot and plentiful, streaming down my face as I watched Bastien walk away from me, taking with him all but the hollowed-out shell that remained. Emptiness. Then nothing at all.

I was wrong. This Bastien was not mine, after all. At least, not anymore. If only I could remember why.

“Keep breathing,” Bastien repeated, hands drifting from my face to my chest. His fingers sunk into the skin, leaving trails of burning heat. “He’ll need a few more minutes before we can move him, Lorelei. But he should be ready soon.”

The woman huffed, her heels scraping against the floor as she straightened. “Fine. I’ve got some calls to make anyway. Get him out front as soon as you can. We’re burning daylight.”

Her clattering steps faded as she exited. Bastien let out a sigh, his chest deflating and shoulders sinking inward like a sagging foundation. He looked exhausted; the usually smooth angles of his face pulled taut with a frown, and deep bruise-like patches bloomed under his eyes. His fingers moved along my chest once again, and I struggled to lift my head enough to catch the motion of his hands. Bastien moved slowly, deliberately, peeling away layers of a thin linen that covered every bit of my body that I could see. As he pulled a long strip away, I noticed the faint green aura coming from his hands.

Was that magic? It couldn’t be. Bastien was a mortal?—

“I know you have a lot of questions.” Bastien’s voice was low, and he looked away when he spoke, like he was afraid someone was watching him. “But I cannot answer them. Not yet. For now, know this: We’re searching for your sister. She’s not been seen since the day of your death.”

My death? What was he on about? I wasn’t dead….

Flashes of memory churned in my mind like roiling waves, but much like water, they slipped through my grasp. Grunts dug their way up my parched throat, formless words tumbling over my lips but finding no purchase. I needed him to explain. Explain what happened to me. Hell, explain just who I was. The turbulent nature of my mind shielded the knowledge from me. But I couldn’t manage any of those requests, aside from gibberish noises. So, instead, I was forced to watch the man remove strips of translucent material from my body.

“That woman—Lorelei—was hired by your mother to find your sister,” Bastien continued, still not meeting my gaze. “The Madame will not rest until Lenny is found.”

Lenny. Another name that summoned a fountain of memories. My head ached as the torrent of scenes broke free from the roiling sea of confusion, drowning me in melancholia so heavy I wasn’t sure I’d be able to escape. My life sliced into bite-sized pieces that ricocheted through my consciousness, exploding like fireworks at each collision: Lenny—Lynette—my sister, my twin, her face round with a youthful glow, staring at me across a table stacked high with scrolls of parchment. She mouthed words I couldn’t recall, her brilliant emerald eyes shining with dew. Then we were dancing, her hair down and the curve of her body fuller than before, her face obscured by a mask embellished with glittering sapphires in every shade of the rainbow. We glided along a polished marble floor, captivating all who would dare to steal a glance at the Greene twins. The ballroom shifted then, leaving us alone in an empty sitting room, watching the dwindling flames of a fire. I held her pale hand in mine as she wept, the source of sorrow lost among the endless waves that battered my mind.

“Lenny….”

Her name was fire in my throat, but I spoke it anyway.

Bastien paused, his dark eyes finding mine at last. “Are you with me now, Tobias?”

I managed a nod. But the light around him was dimming, the edges of my vision darkening until Bastien’s face was a halo against the encroaching shadows. Bastien leaned in closer, bringing with him a familiar scent of spice.

“Good. We’ve got work to do.” He looked back over his shoulder before his eyes returned to me. “And once Lenny is safe, I’m putting you right back in the ground where they found you.”