Morning came clear and cold.
I woke to the sound of the fire crackling low and the soft movement of people checking their bodies the way soldiers check weapons after a battle they were not sure they had survived. Elizabeth sat a short distance away, rolling her shoulders and testing the remaining strength in her arms. Vale stood at the edge of the shore, looking west. Seraphina held one of Lydia's hands and slowly turned the injured wrist, watching for any reaction that should not be there. Feng Lan was already on her feet, staring at the same western horizon Vale had chosen.
I sat up and looked at the scar on my forearm again. In the daylight it was even clearer. Ordinary pale skin. No heat. No pulse that did not belong to me. I closed my hand into a fist and opened it. Only my own power moved under the surface.
Seraphina noticed me checking.
