EVA

EVA WOKE WITH A GASP. Air flooded her lungs; she gulped down the precious oxygen, trying to rid her chest of the burning pain that had yet to subside. Her throat, bone dry, felt ready to collapse in on itself with each accelerated breath. She opened her eyes, hoping—searching—for the loved ones she had left in her slumber.

Harsh light flooded her vision.

It came in stark contrast to the blinding smoke, so that even the dimness of the room was too bright. Colors blurred together in looming masses, and she blinked rapidly to restore their definition. Footsteps thundered in the distance. Their frantic pace faded in and out of earshot.

A pair of hands wrapped around her wrists. She jumped at the gentle touch.

"Bobbi! Hurry up!" The male voice was thunder against her eardrums, but the sound brought waves of comfort crashing over her.

Emrys.

Her Emrys.

As her blurry surroundings cleared enough to make out distinct forms, Eva reached for a human-shaped object with trembling hands. It was then that she noticed her entire body shook with vicious chills. The cold made her long to be closer to him and bury her face in his shirt. He was warm.

He was safe.

"Hey, hey... you're all right," Emrys cooed, though the quiver in his voice proved he was anything but calm.

His hand left her wrist, and when the world returned to focus, his fingers found their way in front of her eyes. They brushed the stray hairs clinging to her sweaty face and pushed them out of sight.

Their gazes met for hardly a second before Emrys broke the calm to holler: "She's drenched!"

"I'm coming!" Bobbi's frantic voice came from the kitchen, followed by the distinct whoosh of water flowing in the sink.

When Emrys turned back to Eva, his walls dropped long enough for her to see the true colors of his current state—shoulders tensed, eyes wild with fear, and arms trembling from adrenaline. Something wrenched deep in her gut, twisting sharper than any knife.

The tears came before she could stop them. Hot trails snaked down her cheeks, blurring the world once again. She pulled her hands away from Emrys' and flung her arms around him.

Emrys stiffened at first, as if unsure how to react to the sudden affection. Still, she tightened her squeeze in desperation. It was then that he wrapped his arms around her waist, allowing her to bury her face in his shirt. The way he melted into her brought a new sense of security—like she would have nothing to fear so long as she remained in his embrace.

"I'm so sorry." His words were a low rumble, muffled with his face pressed into her hair. "The herbs should've protected you... I don't understand..."

Even when soft footsteps drew closer, Eva wasn't ready to leave the comfort of his arms. It wasn't until she felt a gentle pat on her shoulder that she forced herself to pull away.

Bobbi sat on the edge of the coffee table, having cleared just enough space for her to rest. The motherly look in her eyes was unmistakable. It came out any time one of her loved ones was in pain or hurting... or, in this case, returning from a mental hellscape.

This time, however, the way she wrung a clump of damp paper towels, nearly shredding them between her fingers, revealed her own worry brewing under the surface. She forced a weary smile.

"We've got to clean you up, hon," she said, her tone smooth with well-practiced composure.

Bobbi reached out to guide Eva's arm away from Emrys. As she pulled back, glistening blood shone in the dim lighting. Both of her palms were bloodied—superficial wounds, scraped from what Eva could only assume were the stone floors from her vision. She winced as Bobbi pressed the paper towels to her raw flesh.

In an attempt to keep her stomach from flipping inside out, she forced herself to look away. Her gaze shifted to the window, where the storm had reared its ugly head. The rain, before only a light tinkering against the building, now hammered in sheets.

Finally, her eyes returned to Emrys, who made a poor attempt at relaxing his full-body tension. His blinking grew more rapid, and only then did she notice the puffiness of his eyes.

"What happened in there?" he asked.

Eva's mind flashed between dream and reality, unable to focus on just one. She could still hear her own anguished cries. Still smell the sulfuric shadows that had propelled themselves inside every orifice.

"Thana's in trouble."

Emrys' mouth fell open. "You mean..."

"She's alive." Eva's words were accentuated by flickering lights overhead—and, beyond the living room window, the rest of the street did the same.

Bobbi let her paper towel fall to the floor. "Emrys... please tell me you're doing that."

The answer was clear by his paling complexion. It wasn't him.

The lights sputtered out, plunging them into near-darkness. Vicious winds whipped down the street, blowing debris into the siding in hammering droves.

Emrys leapt to his feet. He snatched his leather satchel and began shoving his herbal collection inside with Bobbi's frantic assistance. Any organizational progress he'd made had been for naught, but Eva still wished for them to move faster.

"We've got to go." Emrys stood to his full height, slinging the bag across his shoulders. "Now."

A sonic boom rattled the apartment. Windows blew one by one; the outside tempest hurled glass into the room, descending onto every surface in microscopic shards. Emrys threw his arms around them to shield them from the blast, but pinpricks of debris nailed the exposed flesh on Eva's arms and neck. Adrenaline pumped through her veins at such a rate that she hardly felt the sting.

Emrys' chest rose and fell in panicked heaves as he nudged them toward the stairwell door. The storm's ear-splitting roar drowned out his voice, but there was no doubt that he was begging them to move.

They picked up speed, propelled by the current of rain against their backs. Sharp wind gusts flung Eva's hair from its loose ponytail and drenched strands slapped her eyes. If it hadn't been for Emrys' guiding arm across her shoulders, she wouldn't have had a clue where she was going.

His touch receded and she swatted at her flyaways. It granted her sight in time to watch Emrys yank the doorknob. The stairs door blasted open with enough force to knock him backward, stumbling into Bobbi and nearly bringing both of them to the ground.

White light emanated from the stairwell. Its blinding ray emitted a blood-freezing cold that shuddered Eva's bones. Her rain-soaked clothes stiffened from the subzero temperatures.

"Emrys."

His name echoed off the walls at a volume that shouldn't have been possible over the deluge, but the words weren't what stopped Eva's heart. It was the voice. One that she would have known anywhere, but with a deep, slow, and eerily calm tone she had never heard before.

When the light dimmed and a flash of blue hair caught her eye, Eva trembled from something far worse than the cold.

Kali stood at the bottom of the stairwell. Her stare darkened as she lasered in on Emrys, eyes brightened to a luminescent ice blue that pierced the shadows. The ferocity of her expression matched the raging storm.

Even the rain refused to touch her. Droplets raced around her body, pulled by tendrils of white fog. They spiraled in a protective barrier as if she was the eye of her own storm, carrying herself with violent tranquility. Lightning flickered from her fingertips and extended past her forcefield.

"Kali?" sputtered Bobbi, her hoarse yell hardly audible above the chaos. "What are you—"

White-hot energy shot into the air, narrowly missing the tips of Bobbi's curls as Emrys shoved his companions out of the way. Static snapped around them, and Eva's pin-straight locks swelled with frizz.

She huddled close to Bobbi, her palms leaving slick, red stains on her best friend's shirt. Shuddering breaths rocked her lungs and built pressure behind her bleary eyes.

Another jagged bolt cracked beside Emrys' shoulder. He thrust a hand toward Kali and flames fired from his palm. A blood-curdling shriek emanated from the stairwell as hellfire consumed its prey, wrapping Kali's body in a blazing sphere.

When Emrys turned back to them, his golden eyes shone like fearful beacons. The tattoos across his exposed skin shimmered with power, their amber glow nearly overtaking that of his eyes.

"Come on!"

Eva hardly registered his voice over the ringing in her ears. Her body stiffened, frozen in place until a strong hand gripped her forearm. Before she knew what was happening, she was being dragged down the hall.

Heat followed them in stark contrast to the frigidity of Kali's magic. An orange glow washed the hall, growing stronger with the fast-spreading blaze.

Eva's ears rang until the calamity overwhelmed her senses. The tea that had tasted so wonderful going down threatened to rise up her throat for a second—and much more unpleasant—taste. Her best friend was Astraelan.

Not only an Astraelan, but one poised to kill her.

Emrys pulled them into Bobbi's bedroom and slammed the door. Bobbi's screams continued, increasing in profanity with every fist she beat against his chest. Her words muddled together in Eva's consciousness, but their meaning was clear.

The apartment. The coffee shop. Everything.

Bobbi's life was crumbling to ash.

"Stop!" Emrys raised his arms to block her steady blows. "We have to get out of here before the whole damn place falls apart!"

Bobbi slammed a fist into his gut instead. "Put it out!" Tears thickened her screams into heavy sobs. "You have to put it out!"

"She'll kill you! Come on!"

Not waiting for the next outburst, Emrys half-dragged them toward the fire escape door on the far side of the room. Their steps blurred together. Eva wasn't sure how her legs carried her alongside him and out onto the rickety metal structure, where the deluge had slowed to a downpour.

She no longer shivered. In fact, she couldn't even feel the icy rain as it rolled into her eyes, nor the pain of betrayal that cinched her chest. She had shut down, becoming so numb that she hardly felt Emrys wrap an arm around her waist and pull her tight to his side.

"Close your eyes!"

She obeyed without hesitation.

In comparison to the swirl of ruin, the blankness behind her lids almost seemed peaceful. But the calm didn't last before another blinding light seared through the darkness—a blast matched with smothering heat.

A loud flapping beat against her ears. Gusts of wind billowed from behind, whipping her hair across her face.

When Emrys' grip tightened, a new sensation made her stomach flip in ten directions at once. She was weightless. Her feet lifted from the metal grate to let her legs dangle free. The moment she opened her eyes, she wished she hadn't.

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