CHAPTER NINETEEN
Krohn whined and licked Thor’s face until finally, slowly, Thor opened his eyes. He discovered himself lying face-first on the sand; sand was in his lips, on his tongue, in his eyes.
Thor blinked several times, then slowly sat up, wiping away the sand and reaching over and kissing Krohn and stroking his head. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, to remember where he was.
Beneath the muted light of the first sun, Thor saw all his friends spread out on the beach, supine in the sand around him. Thankfully, they all looked alive—and after doing a quick head count, he saw they were all there. All of them, plus one: a girl, with long, tousled hair spread out on the sand.
Thor tried to remember. Suddenly, it came rushing back: the slave girl, the one Elden had saved.
