The cloaked figure stepped from the shadows, and Adriana’s breath lodged in her throat. His face remained hidden beneath the hood, but the gleam of steel at his side caught the dim light.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Enemy? Assassin? Or worse—one of Isabella’s pawns?
She didn’t wait to find out.
Adriana bolted, forcing her legs to obey despite the fire in her wound. Her shoes slipped on moss-slick stone as she darted across the monastery’s ruined courtyard. She heard the scrape of boots behind her, the echo of pursuit. Whoever he was, he was fast.
She burst through an archway into a crumbling cloister. Broken pillars jutted like teeth, shadows draped across the path. She ducked beneath a fallen beam, sucking in sharp breaths, lungs screaming. The night air reeked of damp earth,
