“Well,” Cassidy said in a trembling whisper. “Here you are. Alive after all, Vix?” She stepped forward. The gaseous fumes hanging languidly around the room began to swirl around her in a vortex, with Cassidy untouched in the eye of calm within.

Cassidy chuckled. “You’ve become more of a nuisance than I could have ever thought. A rat scurrying underfoot, getting in the way when you aren’t wanted.”

Vix forced herself to her feet. Her knees felt ready to give way ...