I opened my eyes, but I wasn't in Eloise's cozy stone cottage anymore. I was standing in a vast, endless expanse of shimmering violet mist. Beneath my feet, the ground looked like a mirror of solid black glass, rippling with faint silver moonlight every time I took a step. There was no pain here. The suffocating knot in my chest was gone, replaced by a deep, hollow quiet.
"Rachel."
The voice was a soft, melodic breath that echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once.
I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat. Emerging from the violet fog was a woman. She walked with a grace that seemed entirely ethereal, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders. It had been three agonizing years since I had last seen her face—three years since death had taken her from me—but my soul recognize
