Another wave struck the wards.
The impact detonated at the base of Sienna's spine and tore upward through her vertebrae in a violent rush. Pain burst behind her eyes—white-hot, blinding—and stole the breath from her lungs.
She folded forward with a strangled cry, fingers clawing at the sheets.
Breathe. Just breathe.
But she couldn't.
The pressure inside her skull had become something alive. Pulsing. Expanding. Threatening to split her open from the inside out.
She pressed both palms against her temples, trying to hold herself together through sheer force of will, but the energy kept building—coiling deep in her abdomen, rising slowly and deliberately, pressing against her ribs until she thought they might crack.
"Stop," she gasped. "Please—"
It didn't stop.
It gathered.
Outside,
