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I tried to lift my hand, but the motion was stopped by something soft.
Sheets? Was I in a bed?
How did I get here?
I must have made a noise, because a heartbeat later, Zuriel stood over me.
“Izidora,” he breathed, his icy blue eyes bruised and his white hair spilling over his shoulders as he leaned down to examine me.
“Wha–” I tried to speak, but my voice was rougher than sand.
“Shh, don’t strain yourself. Let me help you sit up so you can drink some water.” My cousin took great care in slipping his arm beneath me, lightly wrapping the other across my middle and scooting me backward so I leaned against a stack of pillows.
My brain was still in a fog, and confusion pulled at every thread of thought I tried to conjure. Zuriel lifted a glass to my lips, and as I reached up to steady it, I found my hands shaking uncontrollably.
“It’s alright, I’ve got it,” Zuriel soothed, tipping the glass. I parted my lips, allowing the cool liquid to pass across my parched tongue. After several sips, he took the glass away, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“What happened?” I croaked, questions popping into my mind in rapid succession as the water lifted the haze.
“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked, his eyes roaming me as if he searched for any sign of pain or injury.
Pausing to scan my memories, I thought back to the masquerade, the lantern festival where the white fire burst from within and shrouded everything as far as the eye could see in light, the parade…
The parade.
Kazimir.
My fall.
Ruslan flying to my rescue.
The knife.
I clutched my chest, ripping at the fabric there as my heart thundered faster than any hoofbeats. Zuriel clutched my hands to still my frantic movements, dropping his voice into a soothing tone. “You are safe now. We healed you.”
I shook my head, unable to believe the words spilling from his mouth. Whipping my head around, I found no sign of my mate, and my stomach immediately turned over, causing me to heave.
“Breathe, cousin,” Zuriel pleaded, as he rubbed my back and I doubled over, desperate for air and answers.
“Ruslan…” The hoarseness in my voice was only increased by the agony I felt at my mate being gone.
“Is at Ryza Citadel. I will send Liliana to fetch him now if you can promise me you’ll be okay for a few moments as I slip out?”
Then, my head cleared enough that I sensed our bond awakening, filling me with an ache to rival that of my head. I nodded furiously, trying to regain control of myself, and Zuriel sprinted from the room, flinging open a heavy wooden door Ruslan had once carried me through when he’d shown me around the palace he’d built for us.
“Fetch Ruslan. Now,” I heard him say in the distance.
“What’s wrong?” the bubbly voice drifted through the door.
“She’s awake.”
“Oh, shit, I will go right now,” she replied. Liliana. My best friend was still here.
A moment later, a bang reverberated across the ceiling, and Zuriel was by my side, holding a bowl containing a thick substance. “Do you think you can eat?”
I crinkled my nose at the goopy liquid. “Maybe something other than that. Cinnamon rolls?”
The smile that broke across the Angel’s face was filled with relief. “I should have guessed. Don’t move. I’ll be back momentarily.” Again he sprinted from the room, and I waited patiently for his return.
