Aria's POV
"Aria, you need to move. Now."
Damon's voice cut like a blade through the chaos.
I clutched Lila tighter against my chest, feeling the frail rise and fall of her breathing against my ribs. "I'm not leaving you."
"You are," he snapped, and I could hear the echo of gunfire in the background—sharp, metallic cracks that made my pulse stumble. "Maya's on comms. Follow her voice. I'll catch up."
"You promise?" The word scraped my throat like glass.
He didn't answer immediately. That silence told me more than I wanted to know.
Then: "Run, Aria. And don't look back."
The corridor around me stank of antiseptic and fear. Emergency lights pulsed an eerie red, throwing jerking shadows along the walls, as if the building itself was panicking.
Somewhere behind me, a crash—metal on tile—sent a shockwave of terror through my spine.
