Pretending the water sliding down my face is nothing but rain, I let go of the tree and start running.
I don't even care that I've left all my clothes, my money—all of it— back at the house. I can never go back there. I can't face Lucian, not after what he did.
I run faster and further than I know I should on an ankle that's still healing.
But before long, I'm limping through the forest with no idea where I'm going, only that going forward and never back is the most important thing.
All the while, the rain gets heavier and heavier until I'm slipping and falling more often than I'm on my feet. Each time it gets harder to get back up again. My ankle no longer aches. It throbs, and my body is shaking with how hard I'm sobbing.
Finally, I don't get up again. I stay where I've fallen with my face in my hands, and even though I know I have to get back up again, I don't move.
And that's when I hear it. "Cassia!"
Lucian calling my name.