The weight of exhaustion dragged at Lila's limbs as she and Lora hurried through the dimly lit streets, their breath fogging in the cold night air. The encounter with the stranger still lingered like an echo in her mind, unsettling and impossible to shake.
"You won't find safety with either of them."
The words haunted her, looping over and over, intertwining with her own doubts. Was this person a threat? A warning? Or something else entirely?
Lora, walking stiffly beside her, let out a sharp exhale. "Okay. That was weird."
Lila nodded, rubbing her arms as a shiver ran down her spine. "We need to keep moving."
"But where? If Adrian changes his mind, if Caleb—"
Lora's words cut off at the distant roar of an engine.
Lila tensed, instinct prickling the back of her neck. The street had been quiet before—too quiet—but now, headlights flared to life behind them, cutting through the darkness like sharp knives.
A car. No, two.
Both black. Both moving too fast.
"Run!"
