Aria’s POV
I blinked, my eyes struggling to focus in the oppressive darkness of the alley. My head throbbed, a dull ache pulsing behind my temples like a trapped bird beating against a cage.
I tried to push myself up, but my hands skidded on something slick. I looked down, and my breath hitched in my throat. My clothes were shredded, stained dark with dried, crusty blood.
The gala. The music. The laughter.
The way Noah and Cassian had looked at me, like I was a prize they’d finally captured. I remembered the heat rising in my blood, the golden agony of the mark on my neck, and then… nothing.
Suddenly, a high-pitched, piercing ringing shattered inside my skull. I gasped, clutching my ears, but the sound only grew louder, a thousand layered whispers hidden beneath the screeching f
