The dust of the training grounds was still settling on Aria’s clothes, but the scent of the arena was completely swallowed by the familiar, cold smell of the forest as she fled. She ran blindly, the hot tears spilling down her pale cheeks and stinging her eyes. Her hands were pressed tightly over her lower abdomen in a frantic, desperate reflex.
Every breath felt like inhaling shards of broken glass.
The image of Liam’s vacant, stormy grey eyes and the brutal weight of his words—“Who are you?”—vibrated through her skull, tearing her soul to ribbons. And worse, the sickening memory of Elena launching herself into his arms, claiming his lips while he held her with a dull, unearned loyalty, made Aria want to pull the ground over her head.
She didn't stop running until she reached the smal
