11Lena’s sore muscles ached as she was bumped and jostled along in Jace’s arms. He carted her through the sparse, wooded grove, over which a web of sunlight threaded through the leaves. Beyond the tree line, daylight shone in earnest once again. Jace trampled across a rolling field of tall grasses, hissing as thorns and brambles snagged on his shins.
“Try and keep that mop out of my face, would you?” he grunted, shrugging away from Lena’s wind-torn hair. She removed one, cautious arm from around his neck and brushed her limp curls over her shoulder.
Her eyes caught on a cluster of fluffy yellow blossoms and she gasped. They looked so . . . soft. A strange texture she’d never felt before. She longed to gather them up, to caress their petals, to tuck them into her hair.
Jace followed her
