Elena's POV
The world outside the window blurred.
Trees. Sky. Light. Shadow. All of it smeared together in a palette I couldn't name. I wasn't sure if the shaking came from the road beneath the tires or the tremor in my chest.
The blanket around me felt too soft. Too kind.
I didn't know how to sit still in kindness anymore.
Julian sat beside me, shoulders tense, jaw locked—but he kept glancing my way every few seconds, like he was scared I'd vanish if he blinked.
I almost did.
Twice.
Maybe more.
My fingers curled tighter around the edge of the blanket. Beneath it, my skin was a roadmap of bruises and burns, but my mind… that was the real mess.
"You're safe now," Julian had said.
But I wasn't.
Not really.
Because the danger wasn't just locked away in a cabin or tucked inside a syringe or carried by masked strangers in the dark.
The real danger had a face I knew.
A voice I trusted.
A laugh I used to echo.
Amira.
The name alone made my stomach twist.
