“I don’t know what’s happening!” Cooper yelled in a rush, his voice and hands shaking. “I can’t get into her mind. It just started out of nowhere⁠—”

“Everyone, back up! Don’t touch her!” Tegan flicked her hands, and everyone else was thrown back from Savannah’s body. Tegan’s pale-green eyes were sharp when they turned to me. “Frankie, grab her with both hands.”

I didn’t hesitate. I trusted Tegan unconditionally. I dove forward and gripped her forearms with both hands so her skin touched mine. There was a flash of light, then darkness surrounded me. I didn’t move. This darkness was not Everest, of that I was sure. It was thick and heavy and dense. It felt wet, almost like being under water. It was drowning on air. On hot and sticky air, even while I shivered from being cold.

“I can’t see . . . what is this . . .” I shook myself to try and pull myself out of whatever this was. But then rainbow magic wrapped around me and it cleared. My breaths came easier until the pressure on my chest was gone. “Tegan?”

“I’m here, Frankie. I’ve got you. You’re not going anywhere.” Her voice was calm and steady. “Where are you? Check Savannah.”

I looked down at my hands to find I was gripping Savannah’s arms still. My breath left me in a rush. “Oh no.”

“What? Oh no what?” Tegan asked in my ear.

“It’s like before,” I heard myself say.

“Before . . . what? When?”

I tried to get the words out, but they were stuck in my throat. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing. I’d seen Savannah like this before. That memory had scarred me when it happened. I was afraid to look up, afraid to see what I feared I’d see. I didn’t want that to be the answer. Last time she’d been screaming in a weird language, but now she only whispered it over and over. Black smoke swirled around her body. She thrashed and convulsed. Savannah screeched and lifted off the ground, right out of my grip. Smoke was shooting out of her body like it was coming from her pores. She screamed and threw black magic out of her palms.

“Savannah!” I screamed and dove for her, tackling her back to the ground, using my body as an anchor.

“We can hear you, Frankie, tell us what you’re seeing,” Tegan shouted. “Where are you?”

I peeled my gaze off Savannah and looked up to see my fears were warranted. There was no question on the where, I just didn’t understand the why. I wasn’t physically there so the forest siren magic was sweeping over me, their words a whisper in the wind that had no effect on me. But there had to be a reason Savannah was dragged here, astral projection or—OH NO. NO, no, no, can’t be.

“FRANKIE!” Tegan shouted.