Three days.

Three days of walking through forests that seemed to grow darker with each step. Three days of sleeping on cold ground and eating whatever he could find.

Three days of thinking about Laura.

Nikolai's boots were worn through. His clothes were torn from thorns and branches. But he kept walking.

He had to find her.

The guilt was eating him alive. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Laura's face. The trust in her golden eyes as she called out to him as she was taken by Elise and Kieran. The way she had looked at him like he was her savior before he disappointed her by...