EMILIA’S POV

The moment I closed the door behind me, my body betrayed me.

My knees buckled, slamming against the polished floor, and a sharp hiss tore from my lips. I clutched at my stomach, the pain twisting through me like a knife, like something alive gnawing at me from the inside.

Cold. Hot. Cold again.

I couldn’t make sense of it. My skin burned as though fire licked across it, yet my bones rattled with a chill that made me shiver so violently my teeth clacked.

What was happening to me?

My breaths came short and ragged. The air in the room thickened, pressing down on me, suffocating, heavy....