She couldn't sleep. The pain in her wrist gnawed at her, sharp and insistent, a reminder of her own foolishness. Why had she slammed it against the floor? What had possessed her?

Something had.

The pain in her gut had been worse—like a thousand bee stings, like fire in her veins, like something inside her clawing to get out. It had dropped her to her knees, wracked her body with violent tremors. She had sobbed. Her tears had run red, Tyrell had seen. That had been real. It had to be real. But the candles—their sudden extinction, the suffocating dark—that had been a trick of the mind. Hadn’t it?

She squeezed her eyes shut. Trying to feel that stillness she had discovered a few scant days ago.The Light no longer hummed beneath her ribs. It was silent now.

Something else wasn’t.

It slithered through the edges of her mind, weightless, voiceless, just beyond reach. It had been inside her. Had left something behind. She couldn't name it. Couldn't push it away. It was there, and it knew her.

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