Nadia's POV
My feet slammed against the forest floor with desperate force, each stride carrying me further from the nightmare I'd left behind. The thunderous beating of my heart drowned out everything else as Elise's final words echoed relentlessly in my mind.
"Keep running, Nadia! Don't you dare let them drag you back! Move faster!"
Hot tears carved paths down my cheeks, blurring my vision despite my frantic attempts to wipe them away. More kept flowing, an endless stream of grief and terror.
Elise... sweet, brave Elise.
Guilt clawed at my chest like a living thing. How could I have abandoned her? Yet her screams had been so fierce, so determined, begging me to flee and never look back. She'd made me promise not to let her sacrifice mean nothing.
