Prologue.
I was falling.
The wind screamed in my ears as I plummeted through an endless sky.
Clouds rushed past me in blinding white streaks. My stomach lurched as the ground below remained impossibly distant, hidden beneath layers of mist and shadow. I flailed my arms, desperately searching for something to hold onto, but there was nothing.
Nothing except air.
And feathers.
White and black feathers drifted around me.
Hundreds of them spun through the sky like snow, caught in the same violent currents carrying me downward.
I wasn't alone.
Someone was falling with me.
A silhouette cut through the clouds above, diving after me. Large wings stretched behind them, black and white feathers glinting beneath the pale sunlight. Every time I tried to focus on their face, another cloud swept between us.
They were close.
Close enough to reach.
I stretched out my hand.
Their fingers brushed mine.
Then the sky cracked apart.
Darkness swallowed everything.
I woke with a start, my eyelids flying open as a gasp tore from my throat.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
For a moment I lay frozen, staring into the darkness of my room, still feeling the sensation of falling
Just a dream.
Maybe a nightmare.
I rolled onto my side, instinctively grabbing the blankets.
Something brushed my cheek.
Frowning, I reached up.
My fingers closed around something soft.
A feather.
I sat bolt upright.
Moonlight spilled through the gap in my curtains, painting silvery streaks across my bed. Scattered across my pillow were feathers. White and black. Dozens of them.
The same feathers from my dream.
A chill crawled down my spine.
Slowly, I looked around the room.
Every window was closed.
My bedroom door was still locked.
And still, I was no longer sure I had actually woken up…
