The road was quiet…too quiet. Roman stepped out of the forest, brushing blood and dirt from his torn shirt, his body still trembling with the aftershock of the fight. His pulse was thundering loudly beneath his skin. The scent of pine and damp soil lingered in the air, mixed faintly with… her.

Desiree.

He inhaled again. His heart twisted. He needed to see her. Needed to make her understand what she’d seen in the woods.

She had slipped away again, vanished like smoke, leaving him ...