Aria
I didn’t have time to think.
I didn’t have time to breathe.
The gunshot rang through the night, so loud it drowned out everything else.
For a split second, I couldn’t feel my legs.
I didn’t even know if I could still move.
Then the pain hit.
It was a sharp, searing pain that spread from my side like fire.
I gasped, clutching at the wound, but my hand came away red and sticky.
Blood.
“Aria!” Damian’s voice cut through the fog of my thoughts.
His hand was on my arm, pulling me, dragging me forward.
But my legs wouldn’t cooperate.
Everything was spinning.
“Come on, we have to move!” Damian shouted.
He pulled me up, his arm wrapped around my waist as he half-carried me through the dense forest.
But the pain was unbearable, and I could barely keep my feet under me.
“Damian
