I woke to a pounding headache and the strange sensation of floating. For several disorienting moments, I couldn't remember where I was or why my body felt so heavy. The ceiling above me swam into focus—the familiar deep mahogany beams of Kaelen's bedroom.
Memory returned in fragments. The forest. Running. Screaming. The creek.
I tried to sit up, but my arms protested with sharp, stabbing pain. Looking down, I saw white gauze wrapped around both forearms, spotted with faint traces of blood. The events of the Wild Hunt crashed over me like a tidal wave.
"Goddess," I whispered, throat raw.
I remembered the sedative now. The doctor injecting something that had made the world go soft at the edges. Had Lyra been here? Or had I dreamed that?
Testing my limbs, I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, wincing at every movement. My whole body felt like one giant bruise.
