Sophia’s POV
My head felt like it had been split open and stitched back together with fire.
That was the first thing I registered when consciousness dragged me back, slow, unwilling, like I was being pulled through thick, murky water that clung to every thought and made it heavy.
A sharp, unrelenting ache pulsed behind my eyes, spreading outward to my temples in slow, throbbing waves, then traveling down the back of my neck and settling deep into my bones like something alive that refused to leave. I groaned softly, the sound barely escaping my lips, which felt painfully dry and cracked, my throat scratchy and raw, as if I hadn’t spoken, or even breathed properly, in hours. Or maybe days.
I had no idea how long I had been out. Time felt slippery, distorted, like it had lost all meanin
