Sera accepted the hard fact that she was being held without complaint.
She wasn't being cradled or carried like she was fragile. But Aerenyx's arms were locked around her with the kind of control that made movement optional. His grip was firm enough to keep her from slipping and careful enough not to press on the parts of her body that would punish him for it.
She took one breath and knew she was back in the real world. She took a second and knew she was still injured. She took a third and knew the gas station stank of rot, blood, and cold air that had been forced to behave by power that did not belong to humans.
She did not pretend the transition was gentle.
The weight of her body returned first, then the ache, then the awareness of every man around her reacting like she was a live wire. She heard rain in the distance and the faint crackle of melting ice, and she knew without looking that there were bodies everywhere.
