KELLY'S POV
The hallway still smelled like smoke, the electric sharpness in the air that carried faint psychic energy snapping through it.
In this world, psychic energy influences both minds and environments with its subtle charge, a tingling force that can unsettle or embolden.
Guards were running back and forth, their voices clipped and urgent, trying to pretend they weren't still shaken.
I was shaken.
I held my elbows tight against my ribs as I walked, the blanket Elena had draped around me slipping from one shoulder.
The blanket's texture was a scratchy wool against my skin, a reminder of the vulnerability I felt.
As it brushed my cheek, I noticed both the irritation of the fibers and the unexpected warmth they provided, a mix that amplified the state of my mind.
My legs still felt watery, the kind of loose tremble that comes after fear has finally unclenched its teeth.
Thorne was behind me.
