The afternoon warm light did nothing to soften the tremors still wracking Rayla's body, She wake up screaming from the terrible nightmare, it was so vivid that she thought it was real. Asher was by her side as she curled into herself on the dorm couch, her fingers clutching a mug of tea Scarlet had forced into her hands. The steam curled around her face, doing little to erase the haunted look in her eyes—the same look she'd had since seeing Silvia drenched in blood the day before.
His phone buzzed again. 'A. Elias'. The third missed call.
'The Forresters expect us by the sunset'.
Asher's jaw ached from clenching. Every instinct screamed to stay—to wrap Rayla in his arms and chase away the ghosts of that childhood trauma she rarely spoke about. The accident at five years old, the hour
