The sensation was indescribableâlike being pulled through an endless tunnel of light and sound, yet weightless and untethered. My stomach churned as the world around me warped and stretched, every cell in my body vibrating with the strange energy of the vortex. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it was over.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the new surroundings.
It was dark. We were standing on a dusty road near a swamp. I stumbled forward, catching myself before I fell. The world snapped back into focus, and I found myself standing in an entirely new place. Once my vision refocused, I had to stifle a laugh. Eric and Pam looked like they'd been dragged through a bog. Their clothes, their hairâeverything was soaked and clung to them like a second skin. The real kicker, though, was their expressions. Pam looked furious, her mascara streaked and her lips pressed into a thin, unyielding line. Eric, on the other hand, wore an expression I'd never seen on him beforeâsomething between baffled and irritated. It was hilarious.
Pull yourself together, Meg's voice chided in my head, startling me enough that I visibly flinched. That, of course, drew the attention of the two agitated vampires, who now turned their focus to me in unison, tilting their heads like predators sizing up prey. I swallowed hard.
"What the hell was that?" I squeaked, my mind replaying the image of the tall, blond man who had blocked our escapeâright after he had apparently melted a massive metal door just by being there. And that addictive, all-consuming sensation that had washed over me the moment I laid eyes on him...
Gone were the cold stone walls and suffocating darkness of the underground room. Instead, we were in a lush, open forest bathed in soft, golden light. The air was cool and fresh, carrying the faint scent of wildflowers and damp earth. Tall trees with leaves of every imaginable hueâemerald green, deep crimson, and shimmering silverâformed a dense canopy overhead. The forest floor was soft with moss and speckled with tiny, glowing mushrooms that pulsed faintly like miniature lanterns.
"Well, that was a ride," Pam said, brushing dirt off her jacket. "Where are we, Megs?"
Megs didn't answer right away. She was busy inspecting a small crystal orb she had pulled from her pocket, the swirling energy inside casting faint rainbows on her face. Eric, on the other hand, was scanning the surroundings with an alertness that put me on edge.
I stepped toward him, still a bit unsteady from the journey. "Where are we?"
Eric's piercing gaze flicked to me, his expression unreadable. "Safe, for now."
"That's not an answer," I said, crossing my arms. "What is this place? Why are we here?"
Before Eric could respond, Megs cut in. "This is the Veilwood. A neutral zone between realms. Think of it as... a pocket dimension."
"A pocket dimension?" I repeated incredulously. "Like in sci-fi movies?"
"More like ancient magic," Megs corrected. "The Veilwood exists outside normal time and space. It's a safe havenâfor nowâbut we can't stay long. The energy here is finite, and we'll start to attract unwanted attention if we linger."
I processed her words, trying to reconcile the fantastical explanation with the serene beauty around us. The glowing mushrooms, the otherworldly trees... it all felt like stepping into a dreamâor a nightmare.
"Why did we come here, then?" I asked. "What are we running from?"
"Not what," Eric said, his voice low and dangerous. "Who."
Eric stepped closer, his gaze boring into me. "Are you telling me," he said, his tone tinged with disbelief, "that you didn't recognize him?"
I searched his face for some indication he was joking, but found none. Shaking my head, I confessed, "No clue."
"That, my little ray of sunshine," he said with an amused yet exasperated smirk, "was Thor."
I choked on my own spit, coughing and laughing simultaneously. Meg patted my back like I was a distressed puppy.
"Eric, I think she genuinely doesn't understand any of this yet," Meg interjected, her voice calm but tinged with mild reproach. Then, glancing at me with a mixture of pity and annoyance, she added, "Who ever had messed with her perception before had left traces of some serious juju. Wouldn't be surprised if it even manifested on a CT scan, little crates in her grey mass. Something had really tweaked her long-term memory..." I looked at her incredulouis
"You're lying!"
Meg just raised her eyebrows. "Or maybe she's just too stubborn to open her eyes."Her lips pursed as she scrutinized me, then she nodded  "Yeah, if that's the case, fate has a sense of irony that is almost poetic, if it threw you two together."
Meg chuckled at her own observation, while I stared at her as though she'd lost her last shred of sanity. Eric, meanwhile, looked like he was ready to uproot a tree or two with his pent up frustration. It clearly rankled him that we'd had to back down from a fightâeven one he would have obviously lost.
A fight with Thor.
The god of thunder.
From whom I'd been teleported away by a witch.
I plopped down onto the ground, deciding to stay there for a while. If I passed out, at least the fall wouldn't be steep.
"Where exactly did my life go off the rails?" I asked no one in particular. No one answered, either. But it was a fair question, considering my current company: two vampires I had been actively avoiding mere weeks agoâvampires I might've happily staked given the chanceânow stood before me, inexplicably willing to risk their undead lives for my sake. Beside me, Meg was muttering spells under her breath, winking at me whenever she caught my eye.
And yet, despite apparently being the epicenter of all this chaos, no one deemed it necessary to explain what was happening.
Eric and Pam had begun conversing at a speed my ears couldn't hope to follow.
Would anyone notice if I just...slipped away?
As I cautiously stood and took a step back, Pam suddenly growled, "Witch, why doesn't she look like she took a swim in a swamp?" In one swift motion, she was directly in front of me.
She wasn't wrong. My hair still looked its usual mess, and my clothes were bone dry.
While I stared down at myself in confusion, Pam reached for my arm, clearly intending to drag me into the nearest swamp for a proper dunking. Before she could, Eric stepped in, his expression shifting from perplexity to sudden understanding.
"I wouldn't do that, Pam," he warned, but his tone held more amusement than concern.
Pam ignored him. The moment her hand touched my arm, she was sent flying backward in a spectacular arc, landing unceremoniously in the dirt road.
Oops.
"You little toad, you're dead!" she snarled, her eyes narrowing with murderous intent as she sprang to her feet and lunged at me. But before she could reach me, Eric intercepted her, gripping her by the throat and holding her effortlessly in place.
"Pam," Eric sighed, rolling his eyes. His voice was calm, but the authority in it was undeniable. "Don't."
"I...Pam, I'm sorry," I stammered, my eyes wide with panic. "I didn't mean to!"
I had no idea what had just happenedâor why. It was unnerving, yes, but also oddly reassuring to discover I could apparently repel vampires  â even if just by accident.
Pam, for her part, communicated her fury through an impressive glare, her lips too constricted by Eric's grip to form words. Eventually, she gave up, her silent curses replaced by a petulant scowl as Eric shook her slightly.
"Pamela Swynford de Beaufort," Eric said, his voice silky with menace. "Ashley is not to be harmed."
With a final warning glance, he released her.
Pam looked like she wanted to skin me alive but begrudgingly stomped away.
I frowned. "I know I'm repeating myself here..." I began, only to be summarily ignored again.
Eric stripped off his shirt (swoon) to wring out the water, while Meg continued her incantations. Overhead, thunder cracked loudly, the sound reverberating through my bones.
"Well," Eric drawled, glancing skyward as storm clouds rapidly gathered, plunging the night into an even deeper darkness. "Seems your escape still didn't buy us a much time as we'd hoped, Witch."
"Hello? Could someone just explainâ"
"Can we try my plan now?" Eric interrupted, a grim, feral grin spreading across his face as he rolled his shoulders. "I like my plan better."
Meg ignored him, her gaze fixed on me with unsettling intensity. "How did he find you?" she murmured, her brow furrowed. "You were hidden. Your soul was cloaked. How could he..."
Another deafening crack of thunder silenced her, and I flinched violently as rain began to pour in torrential sheets.
"Let's leave Little Miss Thunderstorm behind," Pam grumbled. "If she's what we think she is, she'll be fine on her own."
"Thor is not getting her," Eric snarled.
A blinding flash of lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by a deafening boom. As if on cue, a distant howl echoed through the forest, chilling me to the bone. It was unlike any sound I had ever heardâdeep and guttural, laced with an eerie resonance that made the ground beneath my feet tremble.
Megs cursed under her breath. "Oh he did not bring back up!" Another curse. "Now that is just cheating!"
"What was that?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Pam drew a pair of sleek, silver daggers from her belt, her casual demeanor replaced with sharp focus. "That," she said grimly, "would be hounds."
"Hounds?" I repeated, panic creeping into my voice. "Like dogs?"
"Not exactly," Megs said. She tucked the crystal orb back into her pocket and began rummaging through her satchel, pulling out a handful of vials filled with glowing liquid. "Think bigger. And meaner. And more norse mythology â with a lot more teeth."
"Fantastic," I muttered, my heart racing.
Eric moved closer to me, his presence a strange mix of intimidating and reassuring. "Stay close," he said, his tone brooking no argument. "The hounds are relentless hunters. They've caught our scent, but if we move quickly, we might be able to lose them."
"How?" I asked, glancing nervously in the direction of the howl.
Eric's lips curved into a faint smirk. "By not letting them catch us."
Before I could argueâor panic furtherâMegs tossed one of the glowing vials to Eric, who caught it effortlessly. She handed another to Pam and held one for herself, leaving the last one for me.
"What do I do with this?" I asked, holding the vial awkwardly.
"Drink it," Megs said. "It'll help you keep up."
"Keep up with what?" I began, but she cut me off with a sharp look.
"Just trust me. You'll thank me later."
Reluctantly, I uncorked the vial and downed the glowing liquid in one gulp. It was surprisingly sweet, with a hint of spice, and it sent a rush of warmth through my body. Almost immediately, I felt lighter, faster, as if my limbs were charged with boundless energy.
Eric gave me an approving nod. "Good Girl. Now run."
That simple phrase gave me heart palpitations and another electric zing of energy.
And then, without warning, he took off, his long strides carrying him deeper into the forest. Megs and Pam followed without hesitation, their movements impossibly swift and fluid. I had no choice but to sprint after them, the sounds of the hounds growing louder and more menacing with every passing second.
The forest blurred around me as I ran, the enhanced speed making the world feel like it was rushing past in fast-forward. My heart pounded in my chest, and adrenaline coursed through my veins as the howls of the hounds drew closer. Whatever they were, I didn't want to find out.
For now, survival was my only goal.
Another boom sounded. As I got distracted for a split second, my feet got tangled in one of the roots littering the ground, when I already yelped, crashing to the ground. My new levitation trick stopped me from crashing to the ground full speed, cushioning the fall, however the time lost had me cry out in fear.
On second I was alone, the next Megs was by my side.
"Ah, fuck. Why couldn't you just have stayed hidden in the big city, like you'd been suppose to?", she cursed, her violet eyes sparkling something fierce. Her expression was sombre, sad even. Meg nodded solemnly, then gave me a sheepish smile. "I really am sorry about this."
"Sorry about whatâ" I started, but before I could finish, I heard her yell  "Knock her out!"
And then everything went black.