Bab 223: You’re in there

Eileen's words hang in the cold, stale air like a death sentence. My breath catches in my throat, my mind reeling. Her eyes, once so full of life, are now hollow, like twin pools of glass reflecting nothing back at me.

She's not herself she can't be. Thalira's done something to her, twisted her into this empty shell. 

"Eileen, it's me Lise," I say, trying to keep my voice steady, though my heart is hammering wildly against my ribs.

"You don't want to do this. You know me." I take a cautious step forward, my hands raised in a gesture of peace, but the moment I move, her body tenses like a tightly coiled spring.

Her lips curl into a smile that doesn't belong to her. It's cold, almost cruel. The air around her starts to shimmer with a dangerous heat, a blue flame flickering to life in her palm.

My pulse quickens. I can feel the heat radiating from her even from where I stand so intense it makes the cold of my ice magic feel like a distant memory.