••• Victoria’s POV •••
I woke up on the lounge couch, my cheek pressed against Oli’s shoulder. The blanket draped over me smelled faintly of lavender—her doing, no doubt. For a second, I just breathed. The storm inside me had quieted, just a little.
Suddenly, my mind drifted off to Lya.
Her presence still pulsed faintly in the back of my mind. I tried to talk to her, but she didn't answer. She had gone back into her deep slumber, not stirring at all as I called her name. What was left was just the whisper of warmth, the memory of her voice from last night---that she just needed time to rest and something else. She told me something important that shocked me.
I sat up slowly. The ache in my chest hadn’t vanished. It actually intensified because of Lya's words.
Just like bef
