Chapter 13
Cinder woke to the morning light hitting her face. She bolted upright, looking around at the hay bales. No one had disturbed her all night.
The hunt was over.
By the angle of the light coming in through the window, it looked like it was already past midmorning. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept this late. Her bones and muscles ached as if she’d been running all night. The nightmares had plagued her for hours.
Outside the window, there was smoke spiraling up from the forest. The woods were always wet in the morning from the nighttime mist, so there was no worry of it all going up in flames. Still, it did not bode well.
She did her best to get the straw out of her hair and the sleep out of her eyes as she left the barn.
It was a long walk back into town. Along
