I didn't know how long I'd been in the bathtub.
My body had still been burning, the fire from that cursed drink licking under my skin, coiling deep in my stomach, leaving me restless and desperate.
The heat was unbearable, spreading through me like molten metal, until every breath scraped my throat raw.
It wasn't just warmth… it was raw hunger, clawing and twisting inside me no matter how I tried to fight it.
It wasn't natural heat, it was feverish, wild, the kind that made me feel like my own body wasn't mine anymore.
My thoughts had been smothered under it, blurred at the edges, leaving me caught in need. My skin tingled as if every nerve had been set alight, and no matter how tightly I curled into myself, there was no escaping it.
But little by little, the icy water stole it away. The sharp edge dulled. The flames dimmed, smothered until all that remained was a creeping chill that settled into my bones.
