I opened my eyes to see the sun, shimmering and sparkling behind what looked like palm fronds twisting and turning over my head. My vision had cleared, and I could make out the edges of each leaf—fresh, vibrant, and green.

I touched my fingers to the ground beneath me. They found sand—smooth, soft, and cool. I could hear birds calling in the distance. I braced my hands in the sand and tried to sit up. But as soon as I did, a tremendous pounding in my head made itself known. I closed my eyes again and pressed my palm to my forehead with a groan.

“Whoa, hang on. Don’t sit up just yet,” a deep voice spoke from nearby.

I felt the ground beneath me echo slightly, and then sensed the increased proximity of someone moving closer. With my eyes still squeezed shut, I lowered my head back to the earth.

“That’s right. Just don’t move too much yet,” the voice spoke again. It was unfamiliar, yet it sparked a memory. The accent wasn’t American. But I couldn’t place it in my half-conscious state.

I tentatively squinted into the daylight again. Someone was sitting next to me, staring down at my face.

It was a man. I could tell that much. His expression held a strange mix of worry and relief as he assessed me. I tried to understand why, but my comprehension was cloudy and disjointed.

“How are you feeling?” the man asked.

I peered at him, studying his features. Dark hair and eyes the color of honey. They were handsome eyes, but he had a deep gash on the side of his face that had just barely missed one of them.

“My head hurts,” I replied. My mouth was drier than I had anticipated, and my words came out scratchy and coarse.

“Yes, you hit it quite hard.” His voice was kind. I liked it.

I furrowed my brow and winced again. Where was I? I tried to remember the last place I’d been, but I came up blank. The sand, the leaves, the sun—they all confused me. Nothing made sense, so I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to clear away the mirage, but when I opened them again, they landed on a dark brown curl of hair dangling across the man’s forehead. The startling recognition overcame me, and I squinted at him as the pieces began to fall into place.

Before I had a chance to consider them, the words flew out of my mouth. “You’re Liam Montgomery.”

He paused, blinking down at me, and then he held out a bottle of water. “Yes, I am. Here, you should drink something.”

“But…” I blinked up at him, peering at his face and trying to figure out why I was hallucinating so strongly. My heart leapt into my throat, and shock was quickly added to my long list of symptoms. “But, you’re…Liam Montgomery.”