Tell people you’d seen yourself die, and there was always a ton of drama.

The first time it’d happened, Elspeth was six and having a party. Mother had planned it and invited Elspeth’s whole kindergarten class, trying to make her strange daughter some friends. Elspeth went along with it because, in one vision, the party ended well.

However, someone must have crushed a butterfly somewhere because she didn’t live in that version of the future. That morning, Elspeth had drawn a series of pictures. The yard, bright and green with growth. The pretty, white gazebo with its calming, limestone flooring. The brilliantly colored bouncy castle Mother had bought. And lots of happy, smiling faces. Elspeth was in the castle, waving while eating cotton candy.

The next picture showed a tornado suddenly arriving in the yard. Mouths on the people open wide in silent screams.

The next, a raging force, the entire page covered in vicious swirls of back and gray wax. Shredded within it, brighter colors. Then, the more disturbing parts…as in limbs. She’d worn her red crayon down to a nub.

Mother took one look at her art and calmly cancelled the party.

Elspeth had pouted. At six, she didn’t grasp death. After seeing the destruction the tornado left in their yard, she’d gotten a slight inkling.

The party wasn’t the only time she’d escaped death. Every few years, a new deadly vision would come along. Most could be avoided, and for those that couldn’t, she asked for help.

Like now. She needed Luc to survive what was to come.

She’d not seen it clearly yet, just bits and pieces. What she’d not expected was her bestie’s jealousy that Luc was pivotal to Elspeth’s future instead of Babette.

“What do you mean you need this asshat to live? You know, I’ve been nice, trying to give you the benefit of the doubt with this whole vision thing. But now, I think maybe you’re just deranged. Because who in their right mind would choose a demon over me to save them?” Babette shook her head and tsked.

Luc came to her defense. “Elspeth is not deranged. She has a gift. A rare talent.”

“I don’t know if I’d use the word gift,” Elspeth muttered. Without her pills, remaining positive proved a touch harder than usual.

“It is a gift. Ignore the skeptics.” A pointed look at Babette by Luc. “And don’t doubt your sight. After my people changed their violent ways, they ditched many of our old teachings, too. They chose to ignore our seers when they should have listened.”

“People have a hard time listening,” Elspeth replied. And using a bullhorn to get her point across was considered a public nuisance by the cops.

“Can you blame them for shutting their ears? You’re talking about the future coming to you in dreams. I’ve dreamed, too, after eating some magic ’shrooms. Dreamed I was gonna date a despot who wanted to rule the world.” Babette’s face twisted. “Shit, that did happen.”

“I don’t need anyone to believe what I see. Because it’s not always set in stone. There are many possible futures, and I don’t see them all. Not even a fraction. Just chunks here and there. Sometimes, only a blink of an eye. Hints, certainly not enough to run around screaming that the sky is falling.”

“Is it ever going to fall?” Babette asked with utmost seriousness.

“Not in anything I saw recently. But I believe there was a time back in the nineties where it almost happened.” Mama claimed it was the big hair and the aerosol sprays in the eighties that almost caused it.

“Does anyone know you have visions?” Luc asked. In the dungeons, those with the gift tried to hide it. Because the suzerain always took those people away.

“My mother knows. Why do you think I spent so much time at the asylum growing up? Lovely place. Always a ton of art supplies.” She fondly remembered their pudding.

“Erm, I thought the whole locked-away thing with some head shrinks had to do with your happy, happy attitude and lack of arrogance.” Babette held out her hand and took the garments Alfred silently dropped into her palm.

An excellent manservant who arrived just in time and, obviously, well prepared, given he’d managed to find women’s garments rather easily.

Luc turned his head before Babette dropped the blanket.

Adorable.

“Dealing with my lack of arrogance and other dragon traits was only part of it. The dreams were the other reason. I started having the visions when I was young. Small things at first. Lost trinkets that I would see in a dream and then find. Knowing when someone was cheating on his or her spouse. Or lying. I thought I was doing the right thing by helping people and telling them.” Elspeth’s lips turned down. “People don’t want the truth.”

“They hurt you.” Luc practically growled the word.

Startled, she raised her gaze to his and found herself captured by the blazing heat. “They didn’t mean to.”

“Why did your parents not protect you?” He paced, his body tense.

Also wearing entirely too much clothing. Really, who needed a shirt inside? Perhaps if she stripped hers, he’d remove his.

“My mother protected me. Once she knew what was happening, she told me that I had to keep those dreams to myself.” At night when her mama smoothed back her hair, she’d whisper, “Hide what you are. Tell no one. Trust me. It’s best.”

“How is that helping?” Luc stopped and whirled to growl at her.

“Because if people knew, they’d try to use me.” The history she’d dug up on her kind was very clear on that point. “There’s a reason Yellow dragons are rare.” Rare and not long-lived.

Did something in her tone change? Because his gaze narrowed. “You’re hiding something.”

“Me?” She batted her lashes. He didn’t soften. “You caught me. I have a twenty in my bra.” She shoved her hand into her shirt and removed a green piece of paper. “I borrowed it from Babette in case we got separated again.”

He swallowed. His eyes lost focus. Was he having a vision, too?

Babette snapped her fingers. “Dude, the way you’re acting, people will think it’s the first time you crushed on a girl.”

What if it was? Elspeth had heard enough to know he didn’t have much contact with people before coming here.

Luc rubbed his chin, mulling over everything they’d discussed, looking rather handsome and thoughtful. She could see the moment clarity hit him because his eyes widened and he blurted, “The person in your visions, the one you deemed more dangerous than me, is going to come after you.”

“It’s what seems most likely from what I saw.”

“But that means you’re in danger. Why haven’t you departed? The peril is great if you remain.”

“It’s dangerous for me everywhere. The visions don’t leave because I move around. The future doesn’t stop if I’m not there.”

“It’s a large burden,” he said softly.

“I guess, but I’m used to it.” Elspeth smiled. “Good thing I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

“You shouldn’t have to.” Luc’s growled words wrapped her in a caress. “No one should have to see the ugliness of the world all the time.”

“It’s why I have the pink pills. The green ones are for when my pink pills aren’t working.”

“You’re on drugs?”

“Several,” Elspeth admitted. “Or I was. I kind of stopped taking them a few days ago.”

“Is that bad?” Babette asked. “Do you need a hospital?”

Elspeth cocked her head. “I’m not technically ill. I’ll just be seeing more stuff until I get my meds back.”

“Seeing…as in?” Babette queried.

“The future. We’re coming to a right fork soon. Racing and racing onward and further.” Elspeth cocked her head. “In some futures, we’re heroes.”

“Heroes?” Babette straightened. “With cool costumes?”

“The coolest.”

“And you saw this?”

“Yup.”

Babette cocked her head. “Question? Are all Yellow dragons psychic like you? Because this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Because it’s usually a weak power. Most Yellows barely get déjà vu, a few, like me, are inundated with possibilities and go quite insane.”

“Are you crazy?” Babette asked. “Not that I’m judging. I like crazy.”

She showed them a wide smile. “I’m a manageable crazy. I learned at the asylum that I could handle anything if I tackled it with a positive attitude and a grin.”

“Are you sure they didn’t mean positive attitude and a gun?” A dry reply by her bestie.

“Babette! Shooting is never the answer.”

“I don’t know if I agree with that. I’ve shot many a pheasant that was the answer to my aching belly.”

“Your kind still hunts to eat?” Luc asked.

“Actually, we usually hit the grocery store unless I’m craving something really fresh.”

“Did your people hunt?” Elspeth found herself curious about him.

“As my people evolved from a violent species to a peaceful one, we moved away from eating flesh. We chose to only eat that which we could grow and stopped hunting entirely.”

At that Elspeth interrupted. “So you’re saying you don’t eat meat then?” Her nose wrinkled. “That doesn’t seem right because I know I’ve smelled bacon in your house.” She could scent the ambrosia of the salty protein from several blocks away.

“I eat meat. All my people ended up returning to it. In the dungeon, we didn’t have a choice. When the jailors slowed our feeding, we hunted anything that moved.”

“Meat is meat,” Elspeth noted. “You survived.”

“Hold on a second.” Babette jumped in. “I want to know how you plan to fight. If your people didn’t kill anything, then what method did you plan to employ to take over the world? Were you going to have a dance-off?” Babette did a finger snap thing, her body undulating as she sassed Luc.

He frowned. “Demons don’t dance.”

“And they don’t fight either, according to you,” Babette poked.

“Are you implying we were somehow less than you? I’ll have you know, we were extremely advanced as a society.”

Babette immediately fired back. “Did you have the internet?”

“No.”

“Television? Cell phones? Dishwashers?”

“No. We had scrying mirrors, echo chambers, and washed our own dishes.”

“But you didn’t have any science,” Babette exclaimed in her aha moment.

“Because we had magic.”

“Except you didn’t have magic. You said the metal in the rock made it impossible.”

“I said it made it hard. In the dungeons where it was concentrated, it was nigh impossible. But aboveground, with some insulation from the effect, small things were doable.”

“What about here?” Babette, ever sharp, quickly zoned in on the important bits.

He rolled his shoulders. “There is magic here for the shaping, but I don’t yet know if it is compatible with me.”

Luc’s honesty was almost too much. Did he not know how to keep a secret? Elspeth wanted to tell him to keep some things to himself.

“As a representative for the demons, you are really starting to disappoint,” Babette declared with a sigh. “You can’t shift. You can’t do magic. You can’t have sex like a normal man.”

“My ability to fornicate is fine,” he exclaimed hotly.

Babette smirked. “Thank you.” And then turned to Elspeth. “You’re welcome.”

“For what? I already knew we were compatible.” She’d had a vision of them together.

“You get dirty dreams, too?” Babette’s gaze widened.

“Not about other people,” Elspeth quickly corrected, only to realize that it sounded just as bad. Her cheeks heated, and she couldn’t look at Luc.

“You go, Elsie!” Babette high-fived her. “And I guess now that I know you’re a true-blue gypsy lady with visions, I will forgive you for being freakishly happy and optimistic all the time.” Babette’s eyes lit up. “Fuck me, that’s why you’re so bloody nice. You’re compensating for being fucked-up.”

Elspeth’s lips quirked. “That’s only part of it. By doing unto others, I am trying to do my part to ease the ugliness in the world.” She hung on to a vision of the perfect world, glimpsed only once. But it had stuck with her. “Most of the things I see, the bad stuff, is easy to avoid. Uttering a kind word instead of an insult. Sharing instead of hoarding.”

“I am not sharing my hoard.”

Elspeth put a hand on Babette’s tense arm. “There is nothing wrong with having treasures. Simply ensure they harm no one.”

“The only thing hurting is my ass from the candy.”

“What do you hoard?” Luc asked.

Usually, she didn’t tell. Elsie knew all too well the mockery people felt compelled to dish out. But she wasn’t ashamed of her hoard, and Luc wasn’t like a dragon. “I like to gather kind acts. Laughter. I find my collection of hugs especially satisfying.”

Babette wrinkled her nose. “Those are emotions, not things.”

“They are. And to me, they are the most precious things in the world.” When she felt especially morose and disconnected, or if a vision hit her particularly hard, she’d retreat into her vault of hugs and fall back into the sensation of holding someone against her. Someone anchoring her to a place and time.

Not everyone understood that kind of treasure.

The look on Babette’s face proved amusing. Bafflement. “You collect feelings. How are you supposed to touch and pet them? And eat them even if you’re on a diet?”

“I remember them, and I feel good.” Elspeth closed her eyes.

“What happens when you don’t feel good?” Luc asked.

Her eyes opened. “We don’t talk about that in my family.”

Babette cackled. “Elsie, that was just about the funniest thing you’ve said all day. As if you’re dangerous. Only around a dessert bar.”

“You don’t think I can kick ass?” Elspeth tittered.

“I know you can.”

“We’ll soon find out.”

“What?” Luc yelled.

“You got an outfit planned?”

“Yes. It’s hanging in the closet at the hotel. Or, at least I assume it still is.”

Babette sighed. “Yes, that monstrosity is still there. I’d hoped to be thousands of miles away from it at this point.”

The woman carried on a conversation as if Elspeth weren’t discussing her eminent demise. She’d gotten used to people placating her and pretending she was joking.

Luc took it quite seriously. He glared. “Am I the only one who grasped what Elspeth said? She predicted her death.”

“And even she said she’s wrong sometimes. Besides, she’s a dragon. We’re tough to kill,” Babette remarked.

“Show a little care. She’s your friend,” he growled.

“Yours, too,” Elspeth added. Then again, the mere fact that he felt the need to defend her said volumes.

“Chill, dude.” Babette blew a raspberry. “You do realize now that we know about her future, we’re going to stop it.”

“How? We don’t even know what we’re fighting. How do you battle the unknown? Really, I’d like to know because it might help with the whole conquering thing.”

Babette puffed out her chest. “Doesn’t matter what it is. We’ll go in and kill it.”

“And that will solve all your problems?” he asked.

“It might have solved yours if you’d tried it,” Babette retorted.

“Maybe it would have. Or, we would have all died that much sooner.”

Elspeth didn’t like his pessimism. It was up to her to raise his spirits. Or at least show solidarity. “Don’t listen to Babsy. She’s an instigator. I, on the other hand, am a peacemaker. I will turn the other cheek before I fight.”

“What if they slap the other cheek?”

“I offer to forgive them because they are obviously hurting and in need of an outlet.” And slaps didn’t sting for long. It also made her cheeks naturally pink. It didn’t take much to convince someone to slap her. They were always so helpful when she asked.

Luc scowled at her. “Speaking from experience, I can tell you that is a horrible philosophy. Sure, it sounds great on the surface, but here’s the thing. If a person is willing to slap someone who’s defenseless over and over, then there is no amount of forgiveness that will help. One day, you’ll end up dead. My people learned that lesson.”

“For me, managing forgiveness and creating my own happiness stave off the depressing nature of the visions. Without optimism, I tend to react poorly.”

“You mean like when you’re drunk? You’re a right psycho when you’ve had a few too many,” Babette remarked.

Heat rose in Elsie’s cheeks. “Which is why I avoid alcohol. Apparently, when my inhibitions are lowered, some of my baser instincts emerge.”

“You mean your dragon side,” Babette interjected. “You’re repressing your true self with all that goody-two-shoes shit.”

“I don’t need to be mean to be a dragon.”

Hands planted on her hips, Babette sassed, “Maybe if you were mean, people wouldn’t pick on you all the time.”

“You don’t pick on me.”

“Don’t look at me as a shining example.” Babette ducked her head. “I’m one of those who made fun of you behind your back.”

“I know, and I forgive you, best friend.”

“Ack!” Babette gagged then sighed as Elsie insisted on giving her a hug. “I’ll never understand you.”

“That’s okay. Because I’ve seen into your heart. You’re a good person, Babette Silvergrace, and soon, you’re going to find that special someone you’ve been looking for.”

“You had a vision.”

“No, I just know you will because you’re so awesome.”

Babette rolled her eyes, but she didn’t sound angry when she said, “I think I’m getting a cavity from all this sweetness.”

“I’m feeling nauseous myself,” Luc announced. “If you feel the need to get emotional, kindly do it off the premises.”

“Don’t get your demonic thong in a twist,” Babette drawled. “I’m leaving, but not because you want me to, dude. I gotta go report to the big boss.”

“The king?” Elspeth asked to clarify.

“Duh.”

“Are you going to announce my presence?” Luc’s gaze turned dark and impenetrable.

“Yes. I can’t keep a supposed demon a secret, but contrary to what you think, we’re not out to get you. That was Voadicia’s gig, not ours. Not to mention, now that I’ve met you, I can vouch for the fact you’re not ready to take over the local gym, let alone the world. Ready, Elsie?” Babette looked at her expectantly.

“I’m not leaving yet.”

“But your meds—”

“Can wait. I need to stay here.”

Babette sighed. “Your mother won’t like it.”

“Mama will have to understand I’m old enough to make my own decisions. No more arguing. I’m staying, and you’re going. We both know you can’t make me leave. And you didn’t have a problem with Luc and me being together before. While I was unconscious.”

“That was before he was suspected of being a kidnapper.”

“I haven’t kidnapped anyone,” he reiterated.

“Says you.”

“Says me.” Elspeth lifted her chin. “I am perfectly safe with Luc.”

Babette’s face contorted. “According to you. If I leave you alone with him and he turns out to be a murderer, your mother will crucify me.”

Elspeth grabbed her bestie by the arm and began marching Babette to the door. She ducked close enough to whisper, “If you don’t leave, I’ll fulfill the vision where I kill you for being a cock-blocker.”

“What? You’re getting rid of me to have sex with him?” The woman tried to dig in her heels, but Elspeth just picked her up and kept walking.

“What of it? He’s hot. Eligible.” I think. She’d never seen a ring or a missus. “He’s not scared of me. Did I mention hot?”

“Are you really going to allow yourself to think with your va-jay-jay at a time like this?”

“Yes. When else will I get this chance? Do you think I meet guys like Luc every day? Not all of us are petite and gorgeous like you.”

Babette tossed her head. “Good point. It is easy for me to get laid.”

“Exactly. Which is why you’re going back to report. Without mentioning my being here with Luc.”

“Use protection.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Babette grimaced as she paused before the front door. “This is probably a bad idea.”

“Think of it as a good idea. The very best.”

“If this goes to shit, I’m blaming you.”

“It won’t go to shit.” I hope. Once Babette had left, Elspeth shut the door, locked it, and leaned against the wood.

It was just she and Luc now. At last. She didn’t quite run back to his office, but her walk occurred at a rapid pace.

She entered to find him staring out the window, his body rigid. She could practically see the tension oozing off him.

“You’re angry,” she stated.

“I’m always angry.”

“Yes, but right now, you’re angrier than usual.” He trembled. A big, sexy man, so full of rage and hurt. She could see it. Feel it. She wanted to soothe it away. To kiss it better. Yet, she held back.

Touching him also had the effect of making her forget herself. Losing control…not always a good idea.

He whirled from the window, his eyes blazing blue, the skin on his forehead dimpling. “Why do you care how I feel? And don’t feed me a line about caring about me. You don’t know me.”

“I want to.”

Someone, though, wanted to wallow. He turned back to the window. “Go away.”

“After the trouble you went through trying to find me?”

“Who says I was looking?”

“You did. Not to mention, that does.” She pointed at the map and then the bowl of blood with its lone strand of hair. Her hair she’d wager. “You were looking for me.”

“I was looking for a dragon to kill.”

“Really?” She cocked her head, unafraid. He lied. But why? “I know you don’t want to kill me.”

“On the contrary, I do. Intently.”

“Okay.” She tilted her head back and bared her neck. “Let’s do this again. Kill me.”

“Stop toying with me.”

“I’m not the one saying one thing and doing another.”

“Killing is messy, and I like this shirt.”

“It’s plaid.”

“And?”

“It won’t show the blood after you wash it.” She knew from experience.

“Would you stop trying to convince me to kill you? I don’t want to.” He crossed his arms and jutted his lower lip mulishly.

She wanted to grab hold of it with her teeth and suck for a while.

“You don’t want to throttle me because you like me.”

“Not in the least. I’ll kill you when I’m ready. Which isn’t now. You might as well leave. It won’t be tonight.”

She took a step closer. “Leave a friend in need? You should know by now, I can’t do that.”

“We are not friends.”

“Of course, we are, silly. Especially now that we’ve shared our secrets and I’ve seen your horns. They’re peeking again.”

His hand partially rose then fell. “It is because of this you should leave before I come to my senses and kill you.”

“Kill me? That seems a little extreme, don’t you think? Yes, I know you say you want to rule the world, and I did see your impressive pecs—”

“Pecs?”

“—but it’s not as if I took a picture of your hot body and disseminated it over the internet as a meme titled Demon Hottie.”

“Why would you want an image of my body?”

“To show off, of course. You are sexy.”

“I am?”

“And hung.” He couldn’t hide his interest, not in those pants.

Luc’s gaze narrowed. “By hung, you mean?”

She glanced down, and he followed her gaze to his covered groin with a crease between his brows.

“Am I not a standard size?”

“Don’t you know? Surely, you and the other boys had penis competitions?”

He grimaced. “I don’t have much experience with people.”

Poor thing. While she didn’t understand being socially awkward, she could empathize with not having a large circle of friends.

“You have me now.” She hugged him. Tried to give him a super-duper hug, the kind that would lift him off the ground and make him feel special, except he was too heavy. She settled for squeezing him—and groping his fine ass.

He was completely choked with emotion when he said, “What are you doing?”

“Hugging the sadness out of you.”

“I am not sad.”

“Depressed.”

“Not depressed either. But if you are looking for a term to describe me, homicidal comes to mind.”

“Oooh, who do we need to kill?”

“We?”

“Of course, we. I told you, we are friends, and friends don’t let friends murder alone. You tell me when and where, and I’ll bring the shovel.”

“You do realize I haven’t given up on my plan to kill all of dragonkind for eradicating my race?”

“I know, and I’d say you have a good reason. I’d hate me, too.”

He sighed. “I don’t hate you. However, I promised my mother I’d seek revenge.”

“You know, if you want that to sound really cool, you should say it more like this.” She struck a proper pose and recited from her favorite movie. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

“But you didn’t kill my father. And I thought your name was Elspeth.”

“It is. I’m just saying…you know what, forget explaining. We need to watch it.”

She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him downstairs to where she’d seen a television when exploring.

They were halfway through the movie The Princess Bride—which she’d found on some streaming channel—with her snuggling against him, her hand on this thigh, when he turned to ask, “Do you have a mate?”

Given it came out of the blue, it could only mean one thing. “Can’t stop thinking about me either? I know the feeling.” He consumed her thoughts.

“Is it a spell?”

She shook her head.

“Then what?”

“Attraction. You’re the PB for my jelly.”

He frowned.

“Peanut butter?”

He still looked confused.

“I’ll show you what a PB&J is later. Right now, I think this is better suited.”

She leaned forward and kissed him.

Elspeth kissed him—and kissed him alone because he froze.

Solid.

She wasn’t even sure he breathed.

A tug at his lower lip wrought a shudder in him. A lick of the seam definitely made him shiver.

“Are you going to kiss me back?” she asked, fingers wrapped in his hair.

“We shouldn’t.”

“Tell me to walk away, then.” She snuggled closer, her ass in his lap, the hard pressure of his erection proof that he didn’t want to stop.

“You are my temptation. My undoing.”

Sexiest thing a man had ever said. Cupping his cheeks, she kissed him again, pouring some of her passion into it. Not too much. She didn’t want to frighten him. Watch your strength.

Turning in his lap, she straddled him, her thighs on either side of his, more fully pressing his erection against her.

She rocked against it, and he stiffened again, only for a moment before his hands gripped her around the waist. His lips parted finally with a hot exclamation.

If before she was in control, that now changed. As if he’d unleashed it, his passion rolled out in a hot and sultry wave. She felt the fever of his skin. The possessive dig of his fingers into her flesh. The wet play of his tongue against hers.

She continued to rock against him. Building that pressure and—

“Ahem.” Alfred cleared his throat as he walked in. He stood staring at a spot on the wall while Elspeth gaped at him, her lips—both sets—full and aching. “Would the master and his guest like some refreshments?”

Given someone elected to chaperone, she did her best to smile and act normal. “Hey, Alfie. Some drinks would be great.”

“Privacy would have been better.” Luc displayed an amazing ability to spin his head almost 180 degrees.

“If the master wishes privacy, then perhaps he should partake of private matters behind closed doors.”

The starch riposte had Luc grumbling, “Perhaps smart-mouthed humans should keep their opinions to themselves lest I decide to eat them.” He scowled and crossed his arms.

Adorable really, especially as she grasped that he was miffed Alfred had interrupted what promised to be an excitingly intimate moment between them.

“Got any popcorn, Alfred?”

“Indeed, I do. I’ll fetch some.”

“What is popcorn?” Luc asked.

“You’ll see.”

The moment was awkward. Elsie wanted to reach out to Luc, but he’d slid out from under her and moved to the opposite end of the couch.

He still sat there when Alfred returned with their snack.

When Luc eyed the popcorn with suspicion, Elspeth threw a handful at him. “It’s good. Try it.”

“You try it.” He tossed a puffed piece back, and Elspeth dove to catch it. She hit the floor, tucked and rolled, popped up and opened her mouth, tongue extended.

“You caught it!” Luc exclaimed. “My turn.”

Which was how Babette found Elspeth dodging around the room, mouth open, laughing as she tried to catch popcorn and giggling when it bounced off her nose.

Even more astonishing, how handsome Luc was when he finally cracked a smile. Panty-wetting, knee-weakening gorgeous.

Now that Elspeth had cracked the smiling barrier, next, she needed him to kiss her. Kiss her with all the passion she knew he kept bottled inside. She hoped it happened soon so she could die happy.

Because the end was creeping closer. She’d seen it in a vision. A single revelation. Given she was off the drugs, it usually meant the options were narrowing. Soon, there would be only one outcome.

Now if only she could see ahead to find out if she survived.