I sat up with a sucking gasp, my lungs fighting as if I had just risen from the depths of the primordial ocean. The ground around us was shaking in a light tremor, the hanging lamp above Arthur’s game table swaying, casting weird shadows on us all. Jinx was beside me in an instant, smoothing the hair from my face even as I sobbed. “You’re okay! You’re all right, Lily! It was just a vision.” I fought terror, held him so tightly I was sure I was hurting him. Suddenly, my skin warmed, my breathing slowed, and a tremendous sense of peace came over me. It was all a dream, a possibility, but not something I needed to worry about anymore. I fell back into an embrace. When I opened my eyes, Ananda was looking down at me sadly. “I...I died,” I whispered. His smile was faint. “Do not exaggerate. You cannot see your own death.” I blinked. Of course not. Even if I had been about to die, the message in a bottle could only come from a living source. “She died. Again. That’s six times now.
