POV: LYRA
I watched Aphrodite slip through the broken fence at the back of the compound, and no one stopped me from following.
Maybe because no one noticed. I'm good at being invisible. I've had years of practice.
I stood in the shadows near the storage shed, my small bag already packed and hidden behind a stack of crates, watching Aphrodite disappear into the forest beyond the boundary. She moved quickly, quietly, like she'd done this before. Like she'd been planning this.
I didn't know where she was going. Didn't know why she was leaving in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on her back.
But I knew that if she was running, it was because staying here would destroy her.
I've known that truth since I was twelve and watched Lucen dump dirty water across a floor Aphrodite had just cleaned. I've known it every time I saw her flinch when the Alpha heir twins walked past. I've known it in every small cruelty I witnessed and did nothing to stop.
