--- RAELYNN'S POV Cold air enveloped my body as I ran as fast as possible. The morning mist clung to my skin, making the chill feel deeper, sharper—like the bite of a predator’s fangs. As soon as I realized that they were guards on the patio doors of Idris’s estate, their pale faces half-hidden in shadows, I ran out without wasting any time. It was morning and most of the guards might be in the hall having their breakfast—those immortal creatures with their unnerving stillness and eyes that glowed faintly like embers in the dark. Heaving loudly, my heart pounding quickly in my chest like a fragile drum beneath my ribs, I ran through the forest, the rough bark scraping against my trembling fingers. I inwardly knew that they might find me; sometimes I looked back to see whether some werew

