Jasmin's POV
Something gentle penetrated the darkness wrapped around me.
Not heat, not agony, but something softer. Something I recognized. It enveloped me in my drowsy stupor, like sunlight filtering through glass onto bare skin when no window was visible.
My feet weren't touching the ground. Someone was holding me. But who?
Deep within the shadowy recesses of my fatigue, I sensed it: powerful arms keeping me secure, every stride deliberate, every exhale close to my temple. My skull pressed against a firm chest, and for just an instant, I surrendered to it. That silent power.
That surprising tranquility.
Then it vanished.
My eyelids fluttered open, gradually emerging from the haze.
Pristine walls. Smooth fabric beneath my fingertips.
I found myself on a mattress. Certainly not my own.
What was this place?
My vision swept across the unfamiliar room, strange yet strangely serene. This wasn't an Academy dormitory.
