Women in the small kingdom of Aeriana are disappearing.
Iris Daniels, a budding painter in the East Territory, is trying to keep her head down. In a kingdom filled with abilities, music, and Destined love, Iris is determined to build a career out of...
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"Brannon is gone."
—Recovered Text Message, Unlisted Number, Location Unknown
Iris ached. Everything ached—her head, her arms, the muscles along her chest and abdomen, her thigh.
Every time the car hit a bump or jostled, Iris clenched her teeth against the pain. It was a sharp ache in some moments, a dull throb at others. And yet...
Her hand found the spot on her thigh. The other at her stomach. She had stitches. She could feel the raised threads under her gown. But there was no pain at either site. No sharp stabbing underneath.
She glanced out the window into the dark skies beyond. She was alive. After everything in the warehouse, after the crash landing, after running for her life across Aeriana, she was alive.
Tucked among trees, the safe house was a quaint, dark cabin. It rested at the end of a gravel driveway that jostled the car so much Iris had to grit her teeth and take slow breaths through her nose. When they parked around the side, the lights from inside cast an orange glow into the car. Though the blinds were closed, the light was bright enough to help them navigate.
Two other cars were parked further down. Wylan ignored them and had her door open, his arms under her to pick her up. She curled one arm around his shoulder automatically, gritting her teeth against a full body ache that flared.
Wylan's grip loosened. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Not you," she told him, selecting her words carefully. Her throat still felt scratchy, irritated, and burning.
It was better than the alternative. It was better than being brain dead.
Brain dead. Unlike the stories or the random article or two she'd read, there weren't any bright lights. She hadn't been listening. She wasn't locked in her body.
She simply was in the warehouse, watching the ceiling and walls collapse... and then she'd woken up in the hospital with Wylan.
And Wylan was admitting he was her Destined.
Something in her stomach clenched. A good clench. If Wylan was telling the truth—
Of course, he was telling the truth. He was not one to lie. Not for something like this.
Besides, when she thought about it. When she opened herself up to the idea, it just felt... right.
Wylan moved her to a side door for them to enter.
Iris, unable to resist, hummed.
Wylan froze. Right there, in the early morning hours, with an escaped hospital patient in his arms, he froze.
