Page 44

EVE

The first thing I noticed was the overwhelming heat. It wrapped around me like a heavy blanket, soft but all-encompassing. My muscles ached, the dull throb radiating outward and pulling me closer to consciousness.

I didn’t want to wake up. I wanted to sink deeper into my subconscious, to let it carry me away from the edges of a reality I didn’t know if I was ready to face.

My awareness came in fragments. The steady thrum of a heartbeat under my ear, rhythmic and soothing. The faint scent of something familiar—comforting.

The world beneath me shifted, pulling me closer, and a voice broke through the haze—low, soft, and achingly familiar.

“Easy, Sunshine,” Orion murmured, the words wrapping his arm around my waist like he could shield me from the world. “You’re safe.”

The sound of him tugged at something deep in my chest, a flicker of light cutting through the fog. I felt safe, but for how long?

I opened my eyes, tilting my head back just enough to catch the faint glow of his eyes in the dark. They watched me with a burning intensity that just didn’t feel right. Not after what I’d done. Not after the mess I’d made.

“I…” My voice cracked, barely audible, but I forced the words out through the haze. “I killed Sam. The diner… It’s gone.”

Orion stilled beneath me, his breath hitching just enough for me to notice. His arm didn’t loosen, didn’t falter, but the warmth of his body seemed to shift, sharpening with a current of worry.

“Eve…” His voice was soft, a thread of pain woven through it.

His lips brushed the top of my hair, further igniting my shame.

I didn’t deserve his comfort. Not with the mess I’d made of my life and the destruction I brought to anyone who got close to me.

“You’ve been through a lot, your body needs rest.”

I managed a faint sound, something between a hum and a sigh, and felt his lips brush against my hair once more.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you.”

The sincerity of his words curled around the edges of my pain, dulling the sharpest points. His words were too soft for someone who should be running.

My body relaxed against his automatically, the tension ebbing away as sleep overcame me once more.

The darkness was still at first, heavy and suffocating, like the entire world had been swallowed whole.

I stood in front of the diner, but something was wrong.

The building was too perfect. The bold red trim, normally faded, now looked freshly painted, sharp and vivid against the pristine backdrop.

The chrome accents sparkled like jewelry, catching invisible light.

The neon sign glowed steadily above the entrance, but its soft buzz was missing. No flickering. No hum.

Just silence.

My body moved on its own. My feet carried me forward, crunching over gravel, toward the blackness between the trees that surrounded the building.

I didn’t want to go. I begged my body to stop, to turn back, but it was like I was a passenger in my own skin.

The deeper I went, the heavier the air became, thick and humid like a living thing.

Shadows crawled along the edges of my vision, twitching and shifting like they were watching me.

A sudden snap shattered the silence.

I spun toward the sound, my pulse thundering in my ears.

Something was moving out there.

We’re coming for you , a voice echoed behind me. I turned again, but there was nothing.

You can’t run, Eve.

Not this time.

We’re going to find you, little Phoenix.

I squinted my eyes, hoping to make out the blurry shapes in the darkness around me. The voices sounded like they were right beside me, but I was alone.

“Hello?” I shouted before I thought better of it. Did I really want to know what was out there?

Then I spotted it. A form materializing in the shadows. My heart was caught in my throat, my body locked in place.

He looked human at first, his features indistinct like a blurred photograph.

But the way he moved was wrong—jerky and unnatural, his limbs twitching like a marionette with broken strings.

His arms hung too low, his fingers elongating as his hands scraped the ground.

His head tilted, a sharp crack splitting the silence as his neck twisted at an impossible angle.

Run.

I turned and bolted, my feet crashing through the underbrush.

Something sharp raked across my shoulder. I screamed, stumbling forward as white-hot pain flared through me.

The impact threw me off balance and I tumbled down a steep incline, dirt and rocks tearing at my skin.

I hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air from my lungs as I looked up at the creature chasing me.

That thing—it was Sam.

His face was stretched and distorted, his lips pulled back in a grotesque grin that revealed jagged, razor-sharp teeth.

He lunged, his weight slamming into my chest and pinning me to the ground. His breath—hot and foul, like rotting meat—washed over my face.

I thrashed beneath him, but his weight was suffocating. The heat started low, deep in my chest, building with every second. It hadn’t come to me in the alley, but it was answering my plea now.

My skin prickled, the air around us shimmering as the temperature climbed. Sam’s claws dug deeper, his grin widening as he leaned closer.

“You can’t run from me, Eve,” he hissed, but his voice twisted into something I didn’t recognize.

I could feel the fire building, pulsing through my fingertips, flames licking up my arms and spreading with a life of their own. I begged it to hurry as I watched his face transform, skin smoothing, his hair darkening to jet black and tumbling over his shoulders.

I blinked and he’d changed completely—no longer the boy I thought was my friend, but a man I didn’t recognize. His milky white eyes locked onto mine, unseeing but boring into my soul.

“Ah, now I can see you.“

The forest exploded into light, my fire consuming everything in its path. The trees screamed as they burned, their bark splitting and cracking as the heat swallowed them whole, but it wasn’t enough to shake the man clinging to me.

“Eve!”

The man’s grin twisted into a snarl as the flames engulfed him. He didn’t let go, didn’t even flinch at the heat surrounding us. Instead, he laughed, a sound so shrill it chilled me to the bone.

“Wake up!”

The voice was sharp and desperate, but I couldn’t find it. The fire roared louder, the heat suffocating, the smoke burning my lungs as I kicked and screamed.

“Eve!”

My eyes snapped open, and the vivid orange glow of fire greeted me, swallowing the room whole.

The inferno wasn’t just in my mind—it was real .

Smoke filled my lungs, searing my throat as I gasped for air, my chest heaving in panic. This magic had a mind of its own and it was determined to swallow me whole. The fire raged, bright and overwhelming, turning the bed beneath us into a smoldering wreck.

The door slammed open, and Ragnar’s booming voice filled the room.

“What the fuck?” His towering frame was silhouetted against the flames, his expression shifting from fury to alarm as he took in the scene.

“Eve, you have to stop!” Orion hovered over me, voice strained as he shook me—like he could rattle the nightmare out.

“I… can’t.” The words were strained as I tried to calm the blaze, but I had no idea what I was doing.

I didn’t see him, but I could feel when Xander entered the room. The temperature in the room plummeted, his ice-cold presence warring with the flames as he tried to douse them. I tried to embrace the chill, tried to call the magic back before I did any more damage, but they were out of my control.

Orion dragged me from the bed, and I fell onto the floor, clinging to his arm like a lifeline. But I lifted my eyes to Xander, silently begging him to do what I couldn’t.

Please.

Just make it stop.

His jaw tightened as he called upon his own magic. With a flick of his wrist, the air shifted. A blast of icy wind swept through the room, frost coating every surface, freezing everything it touched.

The room fell into an eerie silence, the only sound the faint crackle of dying embers and my labored breaths. My body felt like it was made of lead, every muscle trembling.

Orion’s hands stayed on my shoulders as he caught his breath beneath the smoke. I clung to him—and felt his skin break beneath my hands. His arms were no longer the same golden hue as the rest of his skin. Angry, red welts began to bleed beneath my palms.

I yanked my hands away from him, unable to stop my stomach from rebelling and spilling the meager contents onto the floor. I coughed, hacking up all of my disgust until there was nothing left. Even with my eyes closed, I could still see the blisters, causing me to heave once more.

“Just breathe for me, Sunshine.”

I felt his hands on my back, holding my hair back, but I wanted to cringe away from the comfort.

I was a fucking monster .

“It’s okay. You were asleep. You couldn’t control it.”

I couldn’t control it and now I’d burned him. I’d hurt the one person who’d been trying so hard to make me feel safe, but it wasn’t me who needed the protection.

“You call this okay?” Ragnar rang out furiously.

“She didn’t know what she was doing! Her magic lashed out, it was an accident—“

“She could have killed you—she could have killed all of us!”

“Enough!” I heard the footsteps approaching, but I couldn’t lift my head and face whatever disappointment was likely etched all over Xander’s face.

His strong arms lifted me up, cradling me against a broad chest. I didn’t fight him. I didn’t have the strength. Xander’s arms were cold. Mercifully cold, soothing my overheated skin. I felt like I could breathe again, the scent of mint and petrichor, cleansing and refreshing.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Xander murmured, but there was nothing to read in his features. Like he was frozen, inside and out. “We’ll figure this out.”

But his words were a promise he couldn’t keep.

Because the fire wasn’t the real problem.

It was me.