Later that evening, Mara escorted me back to my room and left after making sure I was alright. As dusk kissed the sky outside my window, a knock came.
I sat up slowly—my body still a battlefield—and called softly, "Come in."
The door cracked open. It was my mother.
She stepped inside with watery eyes and trembling hands.
"Mom," I breathed.
She rushed to my side, dropping to her knees beside the bed and wrapping her arms around me like she couldn't believe I was real.
"I'm okay," I said, hugging her back as tightly as I dared.
"No, you're not," she whispered. "They told me everything. They wouldn't let me see you yesterday, said you weren't awake. I was so worried—the rogues, the wolves, the Hunt. You shouldn't have been out there."
"I had to be," I said softly. "They needed me."
"You're my daughter, Cassidy. Not a soldier."
"I know. But I want to be more than someone who just survives. I want to protect the people I care about."
