Lucia
The forest air was cool against Lucia’s skin, a welcome relief after days spent cocooned in the lodge under Kaelen and Serena’s well-meant, but suffocating care.
Out here, each breath felt deeper, easier. The lingering ache inside her was forgotten under the deep green of the canopy. She looked up as if the color itself was balm for what ailed her.
Kaelen walked beside her, his presence a solid, comforting heat at her side. He’d barely left her since the attack, and she could feel his anxious gaze on her even now.
"Slow down, Lucy," he murmured, his hand settling on the small of her back. His touch sent a familiar shiver through her, a phantom echo of the dream that still haunted her waking thoughts. “If you make a habit of walking while sky-gazing, the roots are going to win e
