After breakfast, Lara met Odin in the mayor's study. Lara handed the prescription to General Odin, her fingers lingering briefly on the parchment before stepping back. She met the general's gaze one last time and bid him farewell, her voice steady but quiet. "The time for me to return to the Norse Family has not yet come."
Odin and his sons exchanged solemn glances. She was right. Whoever had orchestrated her abduction two years ago would surely be alerted once they learned Lara had escaped — and worse, that she hadn't been sold. Her return now would only stir the people hiding in the dark.
That same morning, Lara slipped out of Carles under a pale sky, the air cool and sharp. The rocky slopes of Mount Roca loomed ahead, jagged and unwelcoming. She picked her way across the uneven ground with practiced ease, each step calculated. The mountain's silence pressed down on her, but soon she felt it — a prickling at the back of her neck. Someone was following her.
