Liosha’s POVPain wakes me.Not the sharp kind. The dull, all-over kind, the kind that wraps around your ribs and hums like a warning.My eyes crack open. The ceiling above me is stone. Damp. My body’s lying on something that might be a blanket, might be moss. It could be both.Voices drift in like fog. Faint. Familiar.“She’s waking.”I blink again. My father’s face comes into view, blood on his cheek, worry in his eyes.“You back with us, munchkin?”I try to sit up, but my ribs scream. “Ouch, okay, that’s new.”“You landed hard,” he says, helping me into a half-sit. “Don’t rush it.”My throat’s dry as sand. “Jon?”“Alive,” he answers. “Barely. But alive.”I breathe out slowly. Thank the goddess.We’re in a cave. The air smells of smoke and wet stone. I hear a river outside. We must’ve made it past the ridge.Across the room, Sebastian stands like a statue, shirtless, arms folded, still as stone. His skin is streaked with dried blood. Some his, some not.His eyes aren’t on me. They’re
Last Updated : 2025-07-01 Read more