Slumped against the cottage near the meadow, legs sprawled in the grass in front of her, Kaida pried her eyes open for the second time. The stone exterior dug into her spine and a smarting jab in her ribs made breathing a chore, but she was alive. Somehow.

One moment she was heading toward a vendor to fetch a bottle of water, the next she was being dragged between storefronts into an alley. A pinching prick in her neck had followed, and her world had gone black. She'd awoken ...