The burning started, and I gasped. The pain was stealing away my breath, and I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming, tasting the copper of my blood.

“Breathe. You have to breathe.”

I sucked in air in fits and starts, but I couldn’t get enough. It was like I was walking on the surface again, only this time, my bare feet were on the lava.

“You focus on the feel of my hand squeezing your hand, and you breathe.”

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I nodded. I was trying—I really was—but I wasn’t sure I could promise anything.

The fire ant bites had turned into blowtorch-level pain. This time I could smell my skin melting, and all I could do was scream and writhe.

Audrey shoved my shoulders into the table when I started to fall off of it.

The door opened and slammed closed, but I didn’t care who’d come in. I wanted up. I wanted to be gone. I was going to cut off my own feet. Screw walking.

“What the hell is happening in here?” Tyler yelled, but I could barely hear him over my own screams.

“Help me,” Audrey said. “I need to get her strapped down, but I can’t hold her still enough.”

A heavy weight slammed me back down, and straps shot out from the sides of the medical bed, slid into place, and secured me to the bed.

“No! No! Let me go. Let me go!” My skin started glowing.

“Jesus. She’s one of them.” Tyler started cursing, and Audrey grabbed him, pulling him into a corner.

She shoved him down into a chair. “Sit there and shut up. We’ll talk about this later.”

I blinked through the tears to see Tyler. He looked from Audrey to me again.

My pain was all-encompassing, but the fear was there, too. Fear of what he would do to me now that he knew what I was.

Another wave of pain hit me, and I screamed. I didn’t give a shit about Tyler anymore.

This was so iced. “Make it stop! Audrey! You said this would work! You promised!”

Audrey was suddenly hovering over me, grabbing my chin hard with one hand. “You focus on me. Focus on my words. On my hand in yours.” She squeezed it, but I couldn’t find the energy to squeeze back. “I got you into this, and I’m not leaving your side until it’s done.”

I screamed as the fire turned into thousands of pinpricks coming from within my feet. Sweat rolled down my forehead, and Audrey wiped it away with a cloth.