Elowen's POV
Ronan had said he was gone to the outer territories and probably wouldn't be back tonight.
So this was a hallucination. It had to be.
I lowered my head again. Snow kept falling. The bench was cold through my coat and my throat still burned and I was very, very tired.
"Elowen."
The sound of my name in that voice brought me upright on reflex, the way a soldier snaps to attention before they've decided to. My legs tried to stand and gave up immediately, and instead of the ground I found myself caught, one arm locked around me, steady and unyielding.
He was holding a cake box in his other hand.
My cake. The one I'd left on the table with Lira and the others.
I stared at it. Then at him. Snow was settling in his dark hair and he wasn't wearing a coat and none of this made a
