Before Zareth's lips could touch hers, the scene suddenly changed.
She was back in her world… At a hospital. The sharp smell of disinfectant burned her nose, and the blinding white lights above made her eyes sting. A woman on a hospital bed was slowly being covered with a white sheet.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Addams, for your loss," the doctor said grimly, his voice flat but heavy.
Her heart stopped. What was going on? Who was that woman who died?
Veronica's legs trembled as she staggered forward, her throat tightening as if invisible hands were choking her. When she reached the bedside, the nurse had already pulled the sheet up to cover the woman's face. But a stray lock of chestnut-brown hair peeked out from beneath it, familiar enough to make her blood run cold.
"No…" her lips parted, the word breaking into a whisper. "Mom?"
The sound of her own voice shattered her. Her chest constricted so painfully it felt like her ribs might snap inwards.
"Where were you?"
