Lucas Pov

The moment I left the café that morning, I felt every nerve in my body alive, taut like a bowstring. Alina’s presence lingered in my senses, the faint scent of her perfume, the warmth of her near me, the way her fingers had touched the locket on her neck without thinking.

I could still see the flicker of recognition in her eyes, the flash of a memory she didn’t yet understand. My poor baby. I hissed internally merely thinking about it.

Her safety was no longer something I could ...