Valtira.
I woke to sunlight seeping through the tall windows, its pale gold brightness slicing straight into my eyes until they burned.
The light felt too alive, too warm for a world that had already ended for me.
A hard throbbing pulsed inside my skull, each beat heavy and punishing, as though a storm had passed through my head and left ruin in its wake.
Of course, a storm had found me.
Draven’s death.
It had shattered the hidden bones of my being, struck the deepest core of my heart, and left behind a numbness so vast it frightened me. Even grief required strength, and I was not certain I possessed enough of it to carry what had been done to me.
Slowly, painfully, I forced my eyes open. My lashes felt heavier than iron as I glanced around, my head still pressed against something s
