IVY'S POV
My eyes had to be deceiving me. There was no other explanation.
Perhaps I had missed her so badly that my mind had begun conjuring ghosts from shadows.
My steps faltered, body retreating until the back of my knees hit the bed and I sank down, breath coming in shallow gasps. It wasn't possible. Seraphina could not be here, not in this fortress of ancient power, not when my father would rip her apart without hesitation, not when she had been bleeding out the last time I saw her. And yet… it was her. My senses had never lied to me before.
Something unseen pulled me back toward the window. When I reached it, my breath caught sharply. The window was wide open. I knew I had closed it.
A faint sound came from behind me.
I turned slowly.
"Oh my God… Seraphina?" My voice cracked with disbelief. "How...what are you doing here? You're supposed to be dying… you shouldn't be here!"
