Fast footsteps echoed through the dense forest, followed by the crunch of dry leaves and twigs under Aliana's shoes as she fled from the man who resembled her husband, but his demeanour was nothing like the man she knew.
When he had first told her to run, she hadn't been able to move. Not until she saw his dark powers bleeding from him as he took a threatening step towards her. Pure terror had driven her to flee as if he were about to attack her.
Why? Why would he do that to her? She asked herself as she continued to push forward until her lungs burned.
When she couldn't take the strain any longer, she pressed her back against a rough tree trunk and tried to catch her breath.
In the quiet darkness, she couldn't stop her mind from comparing this version of Gavriel to his former self, when he had been nothing but kind.
He had protected her, shared his warmth with her, and she... she had leaned into him… trusted him.
She had trusted him with her life.
