He turned to two soldiers who were still kneeling by his brother and gave them instructions. “Wrap the body, and return it to the palace. Somewhere discreet until I can break the news to my family.”

The men nodded their assent and set about fulfilling his orders.

Then there was only the girl left in his arms, who was entirely too still.

She, he would be seeing to himself. He set her down for a moment, shucked off his coat, and settled it over her, taking great care to hide the slim slice of flesh that glowed with inexplicable light. Then he lifted her back into his arms and began the walk back toward home.

He wanted to run, to get her to safety and help as soon as possible, but he knew the distance was too far—he might hurt her more by jostling her. So he held her with as much care as he possibly could as he walked back through the area where he had defeated the twister that had come out of nowhere. He would have to send more men back to search here too, for he was certain men had been swept up in the winds.

For now though, he ignored the twisted and downed trees and the mangled mess that the storm had left behind. He was having trouble tearing his eyes away from the thin bones of Aurora’s arms. Had she always been so frail? In his memories, she was strong and confident, but the girl in his arms now looked withered and so very breakable.

He wanted to turn back around and hunt that Stormlord bastard down and make him pay.

He would. Cassius swore if it was the last thing he did, that monster would pay.

Aurora could not remember the last time she slept so well. She stretched, her arms and legs reaching across smooth, cool linens. The mattress and pillow beneath her were made of such heaven that she never wanted to move. She reached out, expecting to find Kiran’s hard, bare shoulder nearby in this magical dream world, but all she found was an empty bed.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and blinked in confusion at the familiarity. The bed was wide and extravagant, with plush white linens that reminded her of clouds. It had been a very long time since she had dreamed of being back in her old bed. She smiled, stretching into the soft mattress until a wincing pain at her wrist caught her attention. She pulled her hand closer to her face, staring at the red marks she saw with bewilderment for a moment before recent events came back to her like a horrid nightmare, and she realized she was not dreaming.