Auren POV

The dungeon smelled of damp stone and cold metal. Even though every child had been returned to trembling arms before Lior was dragged in, I swept my gaze through the shadows and listened hard for any small, frightened heartbeat that might have been missed. The memory of the first time Lior hadn’t shifted back still haunted me: mid-struggle, the rapid pitter of a child’s pulse had sent him lunging, and I’d been forced to clamp my jaw around his throat to keep him from her. The ...