CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX BECAUSE OF ME

DAPHNE'S POV I tried to fight them off, but it was no use. The rogues’ hands were like iron, gripping me with a force that sent sharp pain shooting through my arms. Every step they took dragged me further away from any chance of escape, and the forest blurred around me, a twisted maze of trees and shadows that I could no longer navigate. My feet scraped against the ground, sometimes barely touching it as they hauled me forward. My body was screaming at me to stop, to give in and conserve whatever strength I had left. I could feel every bruise, every ache from the chase and the slap that still burned on my cheek, but I couldn’t let them see me weak. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. "Let go of me!" I hissed, even though I knew it was pointless. The rogue holding my left arm tightened his grip, his fingers digging into my skin with bruising force. The other one just laughed, a low, cruel sound that echoed through the trees. “Keep struggling,” one of them sneered. “It’ll j