Sleep became a luxury we could no longer afford. For nights, we lived in shifts.Granny and I covering midnight until dawn, Adrian taking mornings and afternoons, the guards rotating every six hours, and Vanessa feeding us intel around the clock. Zaya’s cries became our alarm system, her laughter the only brief balm. Even her babbling, usually innocent, echoed through the high walls like whispers from a ghost town.

Evelyn had betrayed us. And Eliora? She was circling like a hawk, waiting for ...