(Angel’s POV)
The road to Aevum Castle wound like a scar through the valley, silvered in moonlight.
Lucian lay half-slumped beside me in the wagon, murmuring under his breath, sometimes my name, sometimes nonsense.
The closer we got, the heavier the air grew.
By the time the white towers appeared, I could have cried from relief.
Two shapes waited at the gate: Sam, waving a bottle like a flag, and Lillyanne glowing in the torchlight.
“Bloody hell!” Sam bellowed. “If it isn’t the angel herself! Get down here before I start weeping.
I barely hit the ground before Lillyanne swept me into her arms. She smelled of herbs, wood smoke, and home.
“You’re really here,” she said, pulling back to study me. “You look… radiant. Wait, Angel, are you?”
I nodded, with an exhausted smile. “Pregnant.
