Aire woke with a violent gasp.
Her entire body jerked upright before she even understood where she was.
Air flooded her lungs so sharply it hurt.
Her heartbeat hammered against her ribs as though it had been trying to wake her long before her eyes finally opened.
For one terrifying second, she expected chains, cold stone, and dark laughter. She expected to see Lysander.
Instead, she found silk sheets twisted around her legs, and the pale ceiling of the Light Fae palace hovered above her, blurred by dizziness.
Her head pounded.
Fragments of memory crashed into one another. The Hall of Memory, the Moon Goddess, and the silver blossom.
"If she is born... the realms will no longer need me."
Aire squeezed her eyes shut.
"No..." She whispered it before she even realized she had spoken.
Her breathing refused to steady.
Everything she had believed… Everything everyone had believed… None of it had been an accident.
