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“No.”

His face changed.

“Okay,” he said immediately. “Okay. I hear you. I’ve got you, babygirl.”

I didn’t know who I had said it to.

Him.

The voice.

Myself.

Snap.

Static.

The world tore sideways again.

A path. No. A trench. No. Trees. Roots.

My hand reaching for something I couldn’t see.

Listen for—

“Come back to me, babygirl.” Declan cut through it.

The image broke. His face. His mouth. His voice.

I grabbed for him inside myself.

“I’ve got you,” he said.

I was trying. God, I was trying.

His thumb moved against my cheek.

“Everybody’s here,” he told me. “Come back to us, babygirl. We miss you. We need you to come back.”

I heard Mom sob once.

Declan’s eyes never left mine. “There she is,” he murmured, though I hadn’t moved.

My eyes burned.

Declan saw that. “Yeah,” he whispered. “There you are.”

Snap.

Static flooded everything.

Reality blinked.

For one terrible second, Declan’s face disappeared completely.

Not dark. Not gone. Replaced.

A man standing above a hole.