Lila's P.O.V
I stumbled through the underbrush, thorns snagging at my jeans like fingers trying to hold me back. My breath came in ragged gasps, burning my throat, and I could taste the metallic tang of panic on my tongue. The woods around Blackwood Estate were thicker than I remembered—denser, wilder, as if the years I'd been gone had let them reclaim everything. Moonlight filtered through the canopy in thin, silvery shafts, just enough to keep me from tripping over roots, but not enough to shake the feeling that Ethan was right behind me, his footsteps muffled by the leaves.
I stopped finally, leaning against a gnarled oak, my backpack digging into my shoulder. The envelopes and flash drive inside felt like lead weights, proof of all the messes I'd left behind. My phone—damn it, no sig
