Lina's POV
I woke to white ceilings and the smell of antiseptic and something sweeter underneath it. Healing salve, the ancient kind you can't buy anywhere, the kind that seeps into your bones and stitches you back together from the inside out.
For a long time I just breathed. Every breath hurt. But it was mine.
Then I remembered the cliff, the storm, the blade against my belly, Jasper's face streaked with rain and horror, and my hands flew to my stomach before I was even fully awake.
Flat. Empty. Sore beneath the bandages.
My babies.
"They're alive," a rough voice said from the corner. "Both of them. A girl and a boy. Loud as thunder, the pair of them."
Finn. My teacher. He sat by the window, gray cloak folded over the back of the chair, watching me with those pale
