I woke slowly, my whole body aching in ways that reminded me painfully of the night I nearly died healing my father, sunlight instead of moonlight warming my face for the first time in what felt like days.
"She is awake," Kade's voice said, relief flooding through every syllable, and a moment later, his face appeared above mine, exhaustion and joy tangled together in his expression.
"How long," I managed, my voice hoarse and cracked.
"A full day and night," he said, helping me sit up slowly, propping blankets behind me with careful hands. "You collapsed the moment the light exploded. We were not certain you would wake at all."
Memory returned in fragments, Thessaly dissolving, my desperate reach toward her, the blinding light that had swallowed everything. "Thessaly," I said urgently.
