Valerie stood beside him, silent.
She felt like a shadow. Like something that had merely happened to come along, not someone meant to be introduced or acknowledged.
At last, Ivanka glanced at her.
The look was brief yet long enough to read everything in it.
A flicker of surprise. Then understanding. And finally, a very subtle satisfaction.
"Oh," Ivanka said lightly, as if only just noticing. "Valerie came as well."
Valerie forced a thin smile. "Yes."
One word. Cold. Short.
Demian said nothing to bridge the moment. No explanation. No distraction. He simply stood there, as though Ivanka's presence were entirely natural and Valerie's feelings were not something worth considering.
Inside her, something cracked again.
Valerie looked out at the forest before her vast, dark, and closed in and for the first time that morning, she knew with certainty:
She didn't just feel trapped.
She truly was alone.
The hunt began in orderly fashion.
