Page 264 of Midnights
The air around me changes enough to make me notice. That never means anything good.
My pulse spikes and I look at Cam, waiting for some kind of manual, but he's staring out the window as a low rumble rolls in from the distance.
I swallow hard, and I can feel my throat tighten.
“What do I do?” My voice is too high. I can feel the panic licking at the edges of my control as the tingling spreads. My hands are on fire now, and it feels like I’m holding something that’s desperate to escape.
Cam starts to laugh. Actuallylaugh.
I glare at him, not seeing how any of this is remotely funny, because I feel like I'm about to freak out.
“Close your eyes.” His voice is annoyingly calm and right now, the only thing I can focus on is wanting to punch him. “Focus on your breathing. On everything we just practiced. You’ve got this.”
I try. I really do, but it's too much.
My nose stings sharp enough to make me inhale fast. I wipe at it, and sure enough—blood. Perfect. Just what I needed right now.
My vision sways and I can tell that he's saying something because his lips are moving, but I can’t hear him.
The buzzing in my skull spikes into a roar, drowning everything out—then the windows explode. Glass showers the room and papers whip through the room in the rush of air.
A strange, unnatural calm settles over me, and it feels wrong in a way I can’t explain. It creeps into my limbs, curling through my veins like fog, and it's thick and suffocating. I feel like I can't breathe.
My body sways as the last shred of my energy drains from me because I know this feeling. It's Cam. I can feel the weight of exhaustion pulling me under.
Cam’s voice is the only thing that cuts through the void. It’s soft, and steady, anchoring me in the chaos.
“I got you, Rae.”
Chapter 45
Fortnight
Raven
It’s been a few days since my last incident.
There’s been… several.
The days have turned into weeks, but Cam still assures me that no one knows I’m gone. It’s always the same‘time works differently here’excuse.
Training with Elle all day has left my muscles screaming in protest, and I swear a dull ache has settled into every inch of me. Cam’s been off doing somethingimportantmost days, at least, that’s what Elle said when she walked me to my room earlier. She also casually mentioned she had plans tonight she couldn’t get out of, then said dinner would be brought to me.
A quiet, relaxing evening alone is a miracle around here, so I'm taking full advantage.
After spending far too long in the bath, probably pushing the limits of humans and magical tolerance, I finally drag myself out. The oil Elle told me about that first day is laced with magic, literally. And, it helps speed up the healing process. I call it the lavender haze.
As soon as I’m done putting on comfortable clothes and settle in for what I hope will be an uneventful night, there’s a knock at the door.
That must be dinner.
Except when I open it, it’s not dinner. It's Tyler. He's leaning casually against the doorframe, looking like he’s been waiting there forever.
“Hey, beautiful.” He grins.
He looks just like he did the first time I saw him—and yeah, that memory is one I'll never forget. That day had been a hell of a shock.
It was the day after the incident in Cam’s office, when I apparently showed him my thoughts. Something I still can’t get over, and haven’t beenable to do since. When I woke up, Tyler was sitting there, lounging like he was enjoying a quiet day off.
