LORETTA

Elion didn't say another word after telling us we were leaving

His hand closed around my wrist, firm enough to guide me but careful enough not to hurt, and he pulled me toward the door.

I stumbled after him.

The ruined house seemed even more terrifying now that I was walking through it with the knowledge that those men had been seconds away from getting to me.

Dust hung in the air, broken wood littered the floor, the front door was barely attached to its hinges, and Elion walked through it as though none of it existed.

His body remained between me and the street; those men he had...