Chapter Eighty-four

I woke up feeling more comfortable than I ever had in my life, wrapped in a cocoon of warmth that made me want to stay in bed forever. For a moment, I lay there, reveling in the unfamiliar sensation, trying to figure out why I felt so… at peace. I stretched lazily, expecting to spread out across the bed, but something stopped me. I couldn’t move much at all, as if I was being held in place.

Confused, I blinked my eyes open, the morning light filtering softly through the curtains. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing, and when I did, my heart...