“Aine?” I looked from the sylph to Nate. “What’s going on? Why can’t I remember anything?”

She carried the tray to the balcony and set it on a table there. Then she came over and picked up a soft blue robe lying across the foot of the bed. “You have been very ill, and I came to help tend to you,” she explained as she helped me into the robe. “I brought you some food. You have not eaten for some time, and it will help you get your strength back.”

The mention of food made me aware of my growling stomach. I let Aine lead me out to a small table on the balcony that had a breathtaking view of the ocean. The house we were in sat atop a small cliff, and I could hear waves crashing against the rocks below. Aine sat me in a comfortable chair in the sun and settled a blanket over my lap before she moved the tray of food toward me. I knew it was faerie food as soon as I tasted the cold frothy milk. Nothing in this world tasted as good as faerie food.

Nate and Aine joined me at the table. “How do you feel?” Aine asked as I devoured a pastry.

I washed the pastry down with some milk. “Better. I still don’t remember how I came to be here – wherever this is – or how I got sick.”

“Is that normal?” Nate asked Aine.

She smiled. “It will all come back to her very soon. It is normal to be confused when you first awake from the healing sleep, especially when it is a long one.”

I stared at my uncle and faerie friend talking as if it was an everyday occurrence, and I started to understand how Alice had felt down the rabbit hole. “How long was I asleep?”

“Almost a week. Eldeorin said you were very ill and distressed, and he had no choice but to put you in a sleep.”

I blinked at her. I’d been asleep for a whole week? “Eldeorin?”

“You don’t remember Eldeorin?” Her brows drew together delicately. “It must have been a very powerful healing he did on you. Eldeorin is one of our most gifted healers. You are fortunate he found you when he did.”

A hazy image of a blond man emerged from the fog around my mind. It slowly came into focus, and I recognized the mischievous blue eyes and smiling mouth. He was standing at the edge of a bar in a night club, watching me. There was something not right about the club and it made my skin crawl. Why would I go to a nightclub of all places?

The veil blocking my memories fell away, and I gasped as everything came back to me at once. LA, Greg, Draegan, my illness, Nikolas. Oh God! We’d left them surrounded by all those vampires.

Fear threatened to suffocate me and my hands gripped the arms of my chair until my knuckles turned white. “Where is Nikolas? Where are Roland and the others?”

Aine laid a warm hand on mine. “Calm yourself, Sister. Your friends are all safe.”

I looked at Nate and he nodded. I searched their faces, afraid they were only trying to placate me.

Aine touched my face. “I would not deceive you.”

“Why aren’t they here?”

“They are here, but we’ve had to keep them away from you, and we put protections on this room to contain your power. Your liannan made your magic uncontrollable, and it would not tolerate anyone but Fae being near you. After two days, your werewolf friends and uncle were able to sit with you.”

“And Nikolas?”

“No demon could enter this room without your magic lashing out at them.”

My chest tightened. “What does that mean? I can’t go near him?”

“Once you are in control of your magic again, it should be safe.”

“Should be? You don’t know for sure?” I didn’t want to think about what it would mean if I couldn’t be with Nikolas. Or the other people I’d come to care so much for.

Aine shook her head. “Sara, there has never been another like you, and we did not know you could even go through liannan. It is progressing very quickly, and you have moved through the most difficult stage in a week. It normally takes months.”

I remembered how sick I’d been before Eldeorin had arrived to help me. “I can’t imagine going through that for months.”

“Your symptoms were more severe than is normal for liannan. Eldeorin thinks it is because of the Mori. Your magic grew, but it had nowhere to go because half of you is inhabited by a demon.”

“So where did it go?”

She pushed my plate toward me, and I picked up a piece of fruit that looked like one I’d eaten in Seelie. “The healing sleep allowed your body to adjust and make room for the magic. Do you not feel it inside you?”

I stopped eating and focused on the well of power at my core. It felt the same, but stronger, and it pushed against the walls holding it back. Tendrils of magic escaped, and I grabbed them and sent them back. I checked on my Mori and found it huddled fearfully, but safely, at the back of my mind. It’s okay, I sent it soothing thoughts. I won’t let it hurt you.

“Sara?” Nate said, and I realized I’d been quiet for several minutes.

“I’m fine.” I summoned a smile for him.

“You appear to be in control of your power again,” Aine said. “How do you feel?”

“I feel like me, but different. It’s hard to explain.” I sighed and found myself on the verge of tears again. “I can’t stop crying. What’s wrong with me?”

She smiled. “Liannan does that to you. I cried for weeks when I had mine.”

“Weeks?” It was hard to imagine sweet, smiling Aine crying.