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Not then.

Now.

I forced one foot forward.

Then another.

Walk.

My leg hurt.

Walk.

My hand spasmed around the phone.

Walk.

Andrea screamed somewhere inside my memory.

RUN, NYSSA.

I walked.

Bethany beside me with empty eyes. He’ll tell you everything.

I walked.

The Daughters. Mel. Vivienne. Every woman who’d crawled out of that place carrying something nobody else could see.

I walked.

Alaric. Tea. Fruit. His hands. His bed. The way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t watching. Lily’s ribbon. Two severed pieces resting side by side. I love you. My throat closed.

I walked.

Not away from him. I needed to believe that. Toward something. The truth. Whatever the hell that was. Whatever it cost. I reached the far end of the building.

Stopped.

Nothing.

My breathing echoed.

Then—

The smell.

So faint I almost convinced myself it wasn’t there.

Sweet.

Warm.

Spiced.

My stomach turned.

I inhaled again.