*Claire*

I was back in the ballroom, watching Eric go down, over and over. Each time, I was frozen in place, like I couldn’t move until I was grabbed from behind. Each time the guy grabbed me, he said something that I couldn’t hear or understand.

I heard voices. Familiar voices.

“Princess…”

“Gazelle…”

“Spider monkey…”

“Sestrichka…”

“Solnishko…”

A different voice would pull me briefly out of the ...