The air snapped.

Not with a bang no, it was quieter than that. Quieter, sharper, like a string pulled too tight suddenly catching on itself. That sound you don’t really hear with your ears but with your skin. That shift that makes the hairs on the back of your neck rise before your mind even catches up.

Water still hissed, pouring down in sheets that no longer felt like just water. It hit their skin like a hundred thousand tiny pins, and each one stung. The steam clung thicker now, a second ...