~ SASHA ~
She held her breath when Zev stepped in, clinging to him. And as they passed through that unseen barrier, she felt as if her entire skin was being pulled, as if some intangible force tried to tear her away from him.
But her chest throbbed. Literally throbbed. Not with pain, but with heat and a prickling sense of grip. Traction.
She'd wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and leaned into that hollow under his chin, so it took a few seconds for her to realize when they'd actually made it.
Sasha blinked her eyes open. Zev's breath was heavy in her ear. Panting, almost. But from stress, not effort.
She looked around. The rippling walls of the Gateway, curving over her head like clear, aqua-colored diamond surface, each facet a ripple as if in water, but unmoving. And it pulsed. A low light, dim and general—from the center of everything—rose and fell within it, like a heartbeat.
