Chapter 46

VALERIA’S POV A wave of heat rippled through my body, starting in my chest and radiating outward. I stumbled, clutching my stomach as the sensation intensified. It wasn’t the ordinary heat of a fever or exhaustion—it was alive, like fire coursing through my veins, burning hotter with every passing second. I gasped, falling to my knees. My hands trembled as I pressed them into the earth, the cool dirt doing nothing to ease the inferno inside me. My heart pounded erratically, each beat sending jolts of electricity through my limbs. “What is happening to me?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the roaring in my ears. Sweat poured down my face, and a desperate thirst clawed at my throat. Water. I needed water. My thoughts were jumbled, incoherent, but one thing was clear: I had to get to the lake. Stumbling to my feet, I started running, my body moving on instinct. The forest blurred around me, the trees merging into a hazy green as I focused on the path ahead. The lake was the only