Chapter 279: Book 2 ~ Chapter 44

Poppy’s POV

The cracked glass shouldn’t still be holding, but it is.

I stare at it, my breath caught somewhere between my lungs and my throat as another thin fracture splinters outward, branching like it’s alive. The water inside trembles, rippling faintly.

Leo’s arm is still locked around my waist, solid and unmoving. I lean into it without thinking, because right now he’s the only thing keeping me from freaking out.

Jake steps closer to the desk, slowly, as if he’s approaching something that might bite. His eyes track the lines in the glass, taking in every detail.

“Don’t touch it,” I say quickly.

His gaze flicks to mine. “I wasn’t going to.”

That’s a lie. I can see it in the way his hand hovers just slightly before he pulls it back. Curiosity is winning, but not quite enough to override caution yet.

“It’s still moving,” I murmur.

“It shouldn’t be,” Jake whispers, as if worried his voice could be the thing that finally shatters the glass completely.

Leo’s thumb brushes once against my side. “Poppy.”

“I’m not doing anything,” I say, the words coming out harsher than I mean them to. “I’m not even…”

The door slams open, and all three of us turn. Paige stands in the doorway, her breathing a little too fast, her eyes already locked on me like she knew exactly where to look.

“What the hell just…”

She steps inside, and something in the room reacts. The air tightens instantly, pressure snapping into place, strong enough that my ears ring. Leo flinches behind me, and Jake winces as if in pain.

It hits twice. With two distinct waves. One warm and steady, the other sharp and cold. The overhead lightbulb explodes with a violent crack, plunging us into sudden dimness. Before I can react, Jake and Leo have me pinned between them, shielding me from both sides.

Leo reaches for Paige, catching her wrist and pulling her in with us on instinct.

“Don’t,” Jake warns, but it’s too late.

The second she hits the space between us, the pressure spikes. The two forces slam together properly this time and the bulb on the far wall shatters. Glass rains down in a glittering spray.

Leo’s grip tightens. Jake doesn’t move. Neither of them lets me go. But I can feel it now; this isn’t just me, and it definitely isn’t just Paige.

“Easy,” Jake says softly.

My pulse is already racing, my skin prickling as if I’m standing too close to a live wire.

“Move,” the voice cuts through the noise in my head, sharp and urgent. “Now.”

I suck in a breath, my chest tightening as instinct claws up my spine. I push at Leo’s arm, needing space, needing distance.

He lets me go, but only just. The second I step back, he moves with me, stepping into the gap I’ve created, putting himself between me and the rest of the room without hesitation like a barrier.

His hand slides down to my wrist, grounding, steady.

“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, sounding so sure, even as his shoulders stay tense beneath it.

Paige’s gaze flicks to the broken glass on the floor, to the ceiling, and then back to me.

“Poppy… what’s going on?”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Because I don’t know how to explain this. I don’t even understand it.

“Don’t come any closer,” I say instead.

Her brow furrows. “What?”

“I mean it.” My voice comes out rougher this time. “Just… stay there.”

Paige goes still for half a second, hurt flashing in her eyes. Then, because she’s Paige, because she’s always been the one who moves toward the problem instead of away from it, she takes a step closer, her hand reaching for me.

The air shifts again. It’s subtle at first. A pressure, as if the room has suddenly become too small, too tight. My breath stutters as something inside me pulls, sharp and sudden, like a thread being yanked.

Paige falters. Her hand landing on Leo’s arm, steadying herself. Her balance wavers just enough to make my stomach drop.

“Why does this feel…” she trails off, her frown deepening.

“Paige, stop.”

She looks at me, confusion flickering across her face. “Poppy, what are you…”

Another crack splits the air. This time from the wall. A thin line splinters along the wooden wall near the corner, the grain cracking apart with a dry, brittle sound that makes my skin prickle. Leo swears under his breath.

“Okay,” Paige says slowly, her voice losing some of its steadiness. “Okay, that’s new.”

“No one move,” Jake says.

But it’s too late for that, because Paige is already too close. I can feel it. Whatever this is, it’s different now. Louder, stronger, like everything inside me has been turned up too high, and pushed past the point where I can pretend it’s manageable.

Leo presses in closer, which helps a little. Then Jake steps closer, and it spikes. My breath catches as that same pull tightens inside my chest, sharper now, more defined. Focused on her.

My eyes snap to Paige. She’s staring at me now, something shifting in her expression as she sways again, setting every alarm in my body screaming and there's nothing I can do to help her.

“Why do I feel off balance?” she demands.

Jake goes very still.

“It’s not just her,” he says, almost to himself, but he’s already looking between us, something clicking into place behind his eyes.

“It’s reacting,” he continues. “Not just to Poppy, but to proximity.”

“Speak English,” I snap, my pulse racing.

His gaze locks onto Paige.

“You’re destabilising each other.”

The words land like a hit, and I shake my head. I don’t want to believe that, not even for a second, but it fits.

Paige’s eyes widen slightly. “We’re doing what?”

“I don’t think it’s intentional,” Jake says quickly. “But whatever this is, it’s escalating when you get close.”

“That’s not…” she starts, but her voice falters as she shifts her weight unsteadily again.

“Back up,” Leo says immediately.

Paige hesitates.

“Now,” he adds, sharper.

For once, she listens. She takes a step back, and the pressure eases. It’s not completely gone, but it’s enough that I can breathe again.

The crack in the wall stops spreading, and the room settles as silence stretches, thick and uneasy.

Jake exhales slowly, dragging a hand through his hair as he looks between us again, his expression unreadable now.

“We’ve been looking at this wrong,” he says quietly.

No one answers, because I think we all feel it. That shift. That line we just crossed without meaning to.

Jake’s gaze flicks to me, then to Paige.

“This isn’t just her power,” he says.

My stomach drops.

“It’s what happens when the two of you are in the same space.”