The thing at the other end pulled hard enough to drag the breath from my lungs.
For one second, the garage disappeared.
I felt streets instead.
Broken pavement. Houses packed too close together. Several thin threads buried beneath them, twisting through dark rooms where people breathed too quickly and tried not to make noise.
One thread moved.
Something scratched against concrete.
Then the pressure behind all of them turned toward me.
Chenghai's arm locked around my waist and lifted me from the floor.
The connection snapped before it could open any farther.
I came back against his chest with my hands clenched hard enough that my nails had cut into my palms. The scar on my leg still burned, but the brighter line inside my head had vanished.
Zhenlan stood close enough that the air around us smelled sharp. Lightning crawled between his fingers and disappeared when he touched my face.
"You followed it."
"A little."
His thumb moved across my cheek. "How many?"
