Dawn arrived as a pale, reluctant smear against the sky, and with it, a new kind of agony. The salve had worked its magic, the deep, bone-deep throbbing in my ribs receding to a dull, manageable ache.
When the wake-up bell clanged, I was already dressed, my bindings rewound looser, as he’d advised.
Kai was already pulling on his boots, his movements fluid and effortless. He just stood, stretched, and ran a hand through his disheveled golden hair. The casual normalcy of it was a violence all its own.
“Forest survival challenge today,” he announced to the room at large, his voice rough with sleep. “Three days. Teams of two.”
My blood ran cold. Teams of two. The words hung in the air.
He finally turned his head, his storm-grey eyes catching mine. There was no warmth in them, no hint o
