DAMON'S POV
The evening garden feels increasingly suffocating under Isabella's seething presence. The ornamental trees and flowering bushes that should provide comfort now seem to close in around us like a verdant prison. Her threats echo through the carefully manicured landscape, venom lacing every carefully articulated word, each syllable dripping with malicious intent. I hold Serena close to my side, her warmth against me the only reassurance in this nightmare, my mind racing through our dwindling options like leaves scattered in an autumn storm. None of the possibilities that present themselves are ideal or even remotely promising. Fighting Isabella outright is dangerous—perhaps suicidal given her growing powers—and running blindly through unfamiliar territory could lead us straight i
