His head was spinning and his heart seemed to have stopped beating. Surely this was a nightmare and he would wake up at any moment, terrified and cold and silent in their bed, fighting off the old demons on his own without waking Shannon, without disturbing him or daring to ask for his comfort.

Felix stared at the flyer in silence for less than a breath. With a flick of his fingertips, he flung a tiny tongue of flame at the paper, and turned away, letting it scorch and curl and devour itself on the table. The finish in that spot would be badly damaged.

He stalked to the liquor cabinet and pulled it open, reaching blindly for his preferred bottle of bourbon. There was no need to find a glass. Felix opened the bottle and drank straight from it, his back to Shannon the entire time.