Dominic's POV
I carried Aria out with blood on my hands. Not hers, never hers, but the men who’d thought they could touch her.
She was weightless in my arms, her head buried against my chest, trusting, too trusting. The smell of iron still clung to my sleeves. Her tiny fingers curled against my shirt as if she knew it was over, that I’d come.
And I had. For her. For Selene. I reached the car and felt something shift in my chest. Off and Wrong.
The passenger door was open. Empty. She was gone. Selene was gone.
The breath I took didn’t feel real. My grip tightened around Aria as I scanned the road, the tree line. No blood. No signs of struggle. Just… nothing.
My jaw clenched hard. I set Aria gently on the back seat, covering her with the thin wool blanket I’d left earlier. She stirred,
