~HAZEL~

The portal tears open, light spilling across the cave walls, and then Ariel steps through.

My lungs forget how to work.

She's in black leggings that cling like second skin and a cropped top in the same color, the fabric stretched tight over every curve the universe apparently decided to gift her.

Her red hair is windswept from the portal, and her eyes find Ashton immediately—like a compass needle finding north—and the smile that breaks across her face is so radiant it ...