The air tasted like cheap steel and city rain. I flattened myself against the alley wall, my stolen bread clutched to my chest, every muscle screaming. A Shadow Guard. And not just any Guard, but one of the elite black armor, a helm shaped like a predator’s skull. If he saw my too bright eyes or the barely contained twitch of my hidden wings, I was dead. I had to disappear completely. Now I squeezed my eyes shut, not daring to breathe, praying the smog and darkness were enough to swallow me whole.