But I just can’t seem to feel afraid anymore. It’s all going to work out. I’m safe for now, and tired, and still a little feverish, but I’ll be okay.

And I’ll still be okay if I let myself sink back into sleep, just a little while longer.

This time, I fade into deep, dreamless sleep before the nightmares can catch up.

“Leave her alone!”

The voice that wakes me is familiar and irritated, accompanied by doors slamming and several sets of footsteps. There’s enough light outside my closed eyelids to tell it’s day now, which is disorienting.

I groan without opening my eyes. I’m not ready to see Isolde yet. I’m beginning to think I might never be.

She marches in, still shouting at someone. “She needs her rest, okay? Just wait—”

“I’m up.” I grimace, squeezing my eyes shut tighter and stretching slowly. The pillows under my head are damp. Why hasn’t this fever broken yet?

“Seelie!”

At the open delight in Isolde’s voice, I finally open my eyes. What I see makes me jerk upright in alarm, scrambling back to the other side of this seemingly endless bed on my hands and knees.

Isolde bounces on her toes, barely holding herself back from throwing herself at me. But it’s the other face I see, standing between us, that stops me cold.

Aris strides forward, only stopping when my defensive hands spark with blazing gold flames. Her mouth sets in a tight line, green eyes focused on mine.

“Get away from her,” I snarl, taking in the room for the first time.

Suddenly, I think that maybe I should have been much more concerned about where I am when I woke up the first time. Because it isn’t an inn, and it isn’t a house, and it isn’t the Destiny. I still have no idea where I am, since Raze was so distracted and secretive last night. I’ve never seen a room like this before: ceilings so high you could fly a kite, an island of a four-poster bed, arched windows that go from the floor all the way to the ceiling. The floor is carpeted with a rich, floral pattern, vines of gold climb the walls, and it smells like roses.

Isolde doesn’t look frightened, and she doesn’t take the opportunity to attack Aris. She just rolls her eyes and says, “See? I tried to warn you.”

Olani appears in the doorway behind them. She hardly seems to be limping and looks healthy and strong, but that’s not possible. Unless they’ve found another healer. Concern twists her face, and gold beads glint in her hair.

I try to scramble back, but my legs are still tangled in the sheets. I must be more delirious than I thought, because I can’t think of a single rational explanation for what’s going on. “Wh-where am I? What’s going on?” I try to keep the shake out of my voice, to sound threatening, but every instinct is telling me to torch Aris where she stands, to set this gorgeous room on fire and let it all burn to ash around me. It’s all I can do to hold back the fire as the flames grow hotter and brighter in my hands.