The air between the worlds crackled with tension, unstable and vibrating with the energy of the crack between realms. Caitlyn stood in the center, her form flickering like a half-formed dream, her body and spirit finally aligning. She could feel the connection—the pull toward the world she once knew, toward Raymond—but it was fragile. The gateway, barely holding together, flickered around her like a dying light. She reached toward it, but the crack seemed to widen and collapse, never solid, always shifting.

I’m so close, she thought, her heart aching with longing. But she knew that the moment she crossed, everything would change. She could feel it—Raymond’s presence on the...