Jenny Morgan had always loved Alec Sawyer with the fierce certainty of a woman who knew her own heart. Not the Patron, not the leader, not the prophesied savior—just Alec, who'd laughed at her terrible jokes and listened to her stories about teaching first graders with genuine interest. She'd loved him when he'd asked her to carry his child, loved him when the Ke'tala's corruption began spreading, loved him even as they'd sealed her in ice to keep the madness at bay.
She woke from seven months of dreams still loving him, which made everything that came after so much worse.
"Easy," Dr. Hathaway murmured as Jenny's eyes fluttered open. "You're safe. Take your time."
The medical wing crystallized around her in sharp detail—white walls, humming machines, and Alec standing at the foot of her
