The water hit like ice and grief combined.
Nancy gasped as black hands burst upward from beneath the glass surface, wrapping around her ankles hard enough to bruise.
Then they pulled.
Violently.
She crashed onto the transparent ground, fingers scraping uselessly against the slick surface as the Veil dragged her toward the darkness below.
"Kai—!"
The water swallowed the sound instantly.
Above her, the floating memories began spinning faster.
Childhood.
Loss.
Fear.
Every painful thing she had ever survived.
The Veil fed on all of it.
Nancy clawed at the ground desperately as the black water climbed higher up her legs.
Inside her mind, the whispers returned.
He'll leave too.
Just like everyone else.
You destroy everything that loves you.
Nancy squeezed her eyes shut.
"No."
The Veil tightened around her instantly.
A punishment.
The voice became colder.
You know it's true.
Images slammed into her mind one after another—
Her father emotionally disappearing after her mother died.
Friends walking away.
People choosing easier versions of life without her in it.
Even herself.
The parts of her that had started shutting down long ago just to survive.
The water reached her waist.
Inside—
Nyra's light flickered violently.
Fight it.
"I'm trying!"
Not hard enough.
Nancy nearly snapped back at her—
then stopped.
Because Nyra sounded strained.
Weak.
The Veil was draining her too.
Another yank dragged Nancy deeper.
The glass beneath her cracked.
Darkness spread underneath like an endless abyss.
And then—
Kai's voice again.
"NANCY!"
Closer this time.
The Veil recoiled violently.
Almost afraid.
Nancy's head jerked upward.
Far above the black storm surrounding her—
she saw light.
A tear in reality itself.
And for half a second—
Kai.
Only a glimpse.
His silhouette.
His outstretched hand.
Desperate fury written into every movement.
Relief hit her so hard it hurt.
"Kai—!"
The Veil surged upward immediately, covering her mouth with black water.
No.
The ancient voice thundered now.
She belongs to the Veil.
Something inside Nancy snapped at those words.
Belongs?
After everything she survived?
After every piece of herself she fought to keep alive?
No.
Absolutely not.
Rage exploded through her chest.
The black water trembled.
Inside—
Nyra stirred sharply.
There.
Hold onto that.
Nancy ripped one arm free from the darkness with a scream.
Silver light erupted across her skin instantly.
The Veil hissed.
Actually hissed.
Like a living thing in pain.
The water tried pulling harder—
but Nancy grabbed the edge of the cracked glass and forced herself upward inch by inch.
Every movement hurt.
Every whisper attacked her mind.
You're too broken.
Too dangerous.
Too difficult to love.
Nancy bared her teeth.
"Then why," she gasped, dragging herself higher, "do they keep coming back for me?"
The Veil faltered.
Just for a second.
And that second was enough.
Because suddenly—
memories flashed through her mind again.
But different ones.
Leo refusing to leave her behind.
Evan making terrible jokes just to hear her laugh.
Kai sitting beside her in silence because he knew words wouldn't help.
Not everyone left.
The realization hit like lightning.
The Veil had only shown her abandonment.
Never loyalty.
Never love.
Never the people who stayed.
Because those memories weakened its control.
The silver light around Nancy exploded brighter.
The black water screamed backward.
And somewhere beyond the Veil—
Kai shouted her name again.
This time she shouted back.
"I'M HERE!"
Reality cracked.
A massive fracture split the endless sky above her.
White light poured through.
The Veil panicked instantly.
The shadows around her surged desperately, trying to drag her under before the opening widened—
But a hand burst through the fracture first.
Kai's hand.
Reaching for her.
"Nancy!"
She grabbed him immediately.
And the moment their skin touched—
The entire Veil shook.