"Yael, no!"
My eyes snapped open, his name tearing out of my throat before my mind even caught up.
For a second, I expected the pain to slam into me again that burning, needle-deep agony that had dragged me into darkness.
But it didn't.
I shot upright and stared around, confused.
I was in a bed.
Clean sheets. A thin blanket. My clothes had been changed.
After that brutal night with Lewis, my whole body had been sore in a way that sat deep in my bones. Yet now… nothing hurt. I felt strangely light, like someone had lifted a heavy coat off my shoulders.
My hand shook as I lifted my shirt.
The marks Lewis left on me those bruises, those kisses were gone.
Completely gone.
Not even a shadow.
And my skin… it didn't look like mine. Riley had always been pale, but this was different. This was ghost-pale. Cold-white. Smooth in a way that didn't feel human. Even tiny moles and fine body hair were missing, like they'd been erased.
It looked cleaner than any spa could promise.
