CHAPTER THIRTY THREE - The Boundaries Between Us

The forest floor crackled beneath Aria's unsteady steps, each movement sending fresh waves of pain through her body. Blood seeped through her fingers as she pressed her hand against the wound at her side, the sticky warmth a stark contrast to the cold that seemed to be settling into her bones. "Just... keep... moving," she whispered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper as she stumbled forward. Her vision blurred, the towering pines around her morphing into shadowy figures that seemed to mock her desperate flight. Lucas's face flashed before her eyes – his golden gaze wide with shock and betrayal as her blade had sliced across his chest. "I had no choice," she murmured, tears mingling with the sweat on her face. "No choice..." A sob caught in her throat as she remembered the way he'd reached for her even as blood bloomed across his shirt. The memory threatened to consume her from within, eating away at what little strength remained. The ground tilted beneath her feet, and A