Rissa’s POV

The world was burning.

Smoke carved itself down my throat, choking me, dragging fire into my lungs with every breath. The heat clawed at my skin, pressing in from all sides as if the blaze wanted to swallow me whole. Sparks rained down like furious stars, stinging where they landed, and somewhere above us, the roof groaned like a dying beast.

“Mark!” My voice came out raw, torn apart by smoke and panic.

His hand clamped around mine, iron-strong even through the tremor of ...