Page 86 of Spirit Storm

The words land strangely in my mind. "A second affinity? Is that a thing?"

“Do you remember your first assessment, when the result came back provisional?”

I do. It was just another thing that set me apart from the others. Another question mark to loom over me.

"Well, along with your spirit affinity, there is something else. Whatever you just suffered…” He looks from me to the guys.

“Tharuzel possessed her and manipulated her power.” Wylder’s words are careful, and he doesn’t look at me.

Dr. Thorne nods, leaning forward to look into my eyes. “And if you fought his influence the way I expect you did, that would be enough to trigger the emersion. That is why you felt so catastrophically out of control. Two affinities occupying the same space, neither able to settle, pushing against each other."

"Two affinities." Wylder looks as confused as I feel.

"Two," Dr. Thorne confirms, already shifting his position, placing one hand between my shoulder blades and one at my sternum. "I need you to relax now. I'm going to direct the flow of the second affinity and help it settle into place alongside your spirit magic. It will feel strange. Don't fight it."

"Define strange."

"Poppy." His voice is patient but firm. "Relax."

I drop my shoulders and breathe.

His magic builds carefully, not forceful the way Tharuzel's was—nothing like that—but deliberate, precise, like he’s rearranging something delicate inside me.

It’s a bit like he’s untying a knot, separating the threads of power. The spirit magic I know well. The shape of it is familiar, silvery-blue and cool.

The second affinity is different. Warmer. Rougher at the edges. It resists being moved at first, then slides into place beside the spirit magic.

The chaos quiets.

It’s not total silence or stillness… but it’s manageable. It feels ordered, like two vehicles finally driving in their own lanes, no longer cannibalizing each other or clashing for space.

I exhale, and the sound comes out longer than I expect it to.

"There." Dr. Thorne steps back. "Better?"

I press a hand to my sternum, and the electric scramble that's lived there since I woke in Wylder’s arms is gone. "Yeah. A lot better. Thank you."

I take a moment to breathe.

Then I make the mistake of reaching for it.

I just want to know what it is. The second affinity, sitting warm and unfamiliar next to everything I recognize. I reach toward it to test it, to brush it enough to feel the shape of it⁠—

It explodes outward.

Every crystal panel in the room blazes white. The floor pattern ignites, every line at once, and the heat that rolls through me is enormous and instantaneous.

I don't even have time to make a sound before the light ignites and I’m swallowed again.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The ceiling is unfamiliar.

I stare at it for a full three seconds before I accept this as part of my life now. Different ceilings, different rooms, different locations, same groggy disorientation every time.

At least this one has warm stone arches and soft lamplight instead of the cold, clinical hum of the Destiny Sphere.

I catalog details without moving: pale stone walls, a narrow window with thin curtains shifting in a draft, the faint smell of herbs and beeswax.