The hospital room was too still. The steady beep of the monitor seemed to mock them all, a cruel reminder that Chloe’s heart beat only because the machine insisted it must.

Valerius stood at her bedside, a shadow cut against the white walls. His jaw was set, but his eyes, red at the edges betrayed him. He stared at her as if willing her to wake, but she lay motionless, trapped in the dreamworld Selene had woven around her.

Melinda lingered at the foot of the bed, her hands knotted ...