Elena’s POV

When I opened my eyes again, someone was standing beside the bed.

Watching me.

The gaze was dark and unmoving, heavy enough to make my chest tighten before my vision even fully cleared. For a split second, I thought I was still trapped in a nightmare, but the faint hum of the aircraft engine told me otherwise.

I jerked upright the moment I recognized her face.

Elder Scarlett.

But she was nothing like the dignified, aloof woman I remembered.

The collapse of her family had ...