The moment Caitlyn was fully within the world again, she couldn’t breathe for a second. It was as though the very air around her had changed. Her feet were on solid ground, her heart pounding, her body fully reconnected with the world she had lost.

She stood there, blinking, her senses overwhelmed, trying to adjust to the reality of being alive, whole again, but also changed. The bond between her and Raymond pulsed between them like a second heartbeat, steady and powerful, resonating in every fiber of her being.

Raymond stood before her, eyes wide with disbelief, his hands shaking as if he couldn’t quite believe she was really there....