Bai Yue whirled around, her heart jumping into her throat. Beside her, the men were still half-lost in the sensory overload of the shaman’s herbs, Han Shān was swaying on his feet, his hand pressed against a tree trunk for support, while Zhāo Yàn looked like he was fighting a literal ghost in his own mind.

A figure emerged from the jagged shadows of the mill’s entrance.

She was draped in a trench coat that cost more than a year of Bai Yue’s salary, her heels clicking against the gravel. Her hair was perfectly coiffed, her makeup immaculate, but there was a sharpness in her eyes that didn’t belong in a modern boardroom.

Bai Yue’s breath hitched as she recognized the woman. "Lín Huá?" What.....what was she doing here?!

The woman stopped, tilting her head. In the Beast World, Lín Huá had traumatized her and her family! She had hated Bai Yue for apparently stealing the bear king from her, and had tried to have them all killed. Why was she here?

The sight of her sent both fear and rage flooding Bai Yue’s heart, and she clenched her fists. How could the goddess let her slip through as well?!

Here, she looked like a socialite, yet that same predatory glint was buried beneath her mascara.

Lín Huá let out a cold scoff. "How dare you? Calling my name like we’re old friends. Oh wait...." She squinted her eyes. "You’re that nanny from the news. The one who played hero at the botanical garden." She stepped closer, her gaze sweeping over the three men.

Lín Huá’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. "Wait......I feel like I do. There’s something about the way you’re looking at me that makes my skin crawl. It’s......familiar."

"Why are you here? It’s late already and we were in the middle of something. Can you explain yourself?" Bai Yue demanded, stepping in front of the children. In any other situation, she wouldn’t dare speak to her that way, but because of their history, Bai Yue couldn’t help the biting rage that clawed at the back of her tbroat.

Hóng Yè was already standing, his body tensed, his eyes tracking the woman with a focus that was far too sharp for a teenager.

"I could ask you the same thing," Lín Huá said, her voice dropping an octave. "What do we have here? Two of the most powerful men in the city, plus someone I don’t really care about, standing in the middle of nowhere with a servant girl. Scandalous. If the press saw this, Han Shān, your stock would plummet before sunrise." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Han Shān grit his teeth, his jaw ticking with a rage that seemed to be cracking his corporate mask. "Get out of here, Lín Huá. Now. This is private, and you’re interrupting."

"Private?" Lín Huá laughed. "Well, since no one asked, I’ll explain why I am here at this time as well. So you see, I’ve been having the most exquisite dreams lately. Strange things. Of a forest that never ends. Of three powerful males. Of...my own powerful male."

She turned her gaze back to Bai Yue, her eyes narrowing. "But in every dream, there was this......bug. This nuisance. This woman with purple eyes who stole what was mine. She was always cooking that wretched soup. Always clutching those pathetic cubs."

Bai Yue felt a chill that had nothing to do with the river breeze. She remembers too. But it’s twisted. It’s poisoned.

But of course she wasn’t going to tell her that.

"You need help." Bai Yue spat. "And you need to walk away."

"I don’t think so." Lín Huá slowly approached Bai Yue, taking her sweet time.

The men reacted, but they were still caught in the "leak", their souls caught halfway between the modern world and the beast world. Zhāo Yàn lunged, but his legs buckled as a fresh wave of memories slammed into his brain. Yàn Shū reached out, but he was blinded by tears and the scent of the herbs.

Lín Huá ignored them. She was focused entirely on Bai Yue.

"In my dreams," Lín Huá whispered, leaning close enough for Bai Yue to see the madness dancing in her pupils, "you were the one who took everything from me. We might not have met each other prior to this, and you may truly be of no harm to me, but I’m not going to wait to find out."

Bai Yue grit her teeth. She felt like slapping her. "Because you saw me in a dream?"

Lin Hua chuckled. "I am a very simple woman. If I see a threat, I’m going to eliminate it. Let’s see if river water treats you well."

Before Han Shān could roar a command or Hóng Yè could spring forward, Lín Huá’s hand shot out, and shoved Bai Yue.

Bai Yue stumbled back. Her heels hit the slick, muddy bank of the Black Mirror River. Damn you, Lin Hua!!!! Lesson to self, do not stand near river banks!

"Bai Yue!" Han Shān’s voice broke through the fog.

She felt the air leave her lungs as she tipped backward. The ink-black water was waiting. The stars reflected on the surface shattered as she broke the plane.

She tried to stay afloat, desperately moving her arms. But she couldn’t. The chilling water dragged her down into a darkness that felt bottomless.

Air began to leave her chest in slow bubbles as she panicked. She attempted once more to swim out, but the current was too strong.

Would she die? She thought she would die when she was shot. Was now the actual time she would die?

I’m sorry, Bai Yue thought as the surface light faded into a tiny, shimmering pinprick. Her eyes wettened even under the water. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you all home.

~

The silence of the water was replaced by a sound she hadn’t heard in two weeks.

Whoosh.

The smell of ozone was gone. In its place was the overwhelming, humid scent of damp earth, rotting vegetation, and something very large and very furry nearby.

Thump.

Bai Yue hit the ground with a loud thud and hissed, reaching up to scratch her head. Her fingers brushed against a flower. A large, tropical bloom that smelled like honey.

Wait, I’m not dead?!

She looked down at herself.

The floral blouse she had been wearing was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was wrapped in the familiar, dappled fur wrap and the short hemp-fiber skirt.

She sat up, her eyes wide as she took in the towering trees and the distant roar of a beast in the valley below.

"I didn’t die....I didn’t die....I’m back," she whispered, her voice echoing through the jade canopy.

She looked at her hands. They were calloused again. The gunshot wound on her shoulder was gone, replaced by a faint, silver scar.

She was back in the Beast World.

But as she looked around the clearing, she realized she was alone. The clearing was empty.

"Where are they?" she screamed into the trees. "Hóng Yè! Zhēn! Ruì Xuě! Yòu Lín!"

Only the jungle screamed back.