Immediately, she jolted upright in bed, her stiff muscles protesting the movement fiercely. Her eyes widened as she took in the room around her, her room—it looked exactly the same, and yet it felt completely different. She could not explain how the room had changed. It had always been this decadent, always slightly cold with the stone floors and walls and the dramatic windows. But it no longer felt like hers.

A knock at the door set her heart racing. Her last memories were hazy. She clearly recalled the Stormlord slitting Casimir’s neck and fleeing as someone approached. She remembered he’d sent a tornado to slow them down, and she had been so worried that someone had been hurt.

Then … then she remembered Cassius. And nothing else at all.

The knock sounded again, and she glanced around wildly, unsure what she could do other than see what he wanted. She was here now. There was no changing that. And in truth, she would rather be here than back with the Stormlord. But she had no idea what would come next.

She lifted her chin as bravely as she could manage and called out, “Come in.”

The wooden door creaked open, and again it was not who she was expecting, though the person who slipped through the door was one she had seen come through that entrance many times. Instead of the tall form of the Locke prince, she saw the tentative smile of her best friend.

A sob was out of her mouth before she even knew she had made a sound. Aurora tried to scramble from the bed, but her limbs would not cooperate, and she stumbled, nearly sprawling on the floor.

Quickly, Nova closed the door behind her and hurried across the room.

“Stay in bed. Rest. You need it.”

Aurora sat back on the bed without arguing, mostly because she was dumbfounded. “How are you—how?”

“The prince sent me.”

Aurora gaped. “From the dungeon?”

Nova’s mouth slanted, and she shrugged. “He returned me to my room over a week ago.”

Blinking, Aurora asked, “And Jinx?”

Nova shook her head. “He said by participating in my attempted rescue, she was a known affiliate of the rebellion, and he could not release her.”

“But he wanted to release you?”

“Not immediately. Eventually he said he believed me that I had nothing to do with your kidnapping, so he did. But he banned me from leaving the palace, or I would have come and found you. We have to get Jinx out. They did not hurt her while we were together, but I know nothing of what’s happened to her since.”