LOVIA’S POV

The city air clawed at my skin as I stepped out of the gala, but it wasn't the chill—it was the adrenaline crashing through my veins, leaving me buzzing, alive and invincible.

The disguise clung to me like a lover's grasp: the blond wig pulling at my scalp, the pearls heavy against my collarbone and the glamour masking my true self in layers of deception. I didn't shed any of it yet. Not until I was safe.

I walked three blocks, heels clicking against the pavement, before ...