[Ann's POV]
Lady Ovelia's red eyes met mine, and for a single, breathless moment, I saw them glow.
Not the soft reflection of fading sunlight. Not a trick of the lengthening shadows. True light—deep crimson, flickering like flame behind glass, there and gone so quickly I almost convinced myself I had imagined it.
But my body knew. My heart stuttered in my chest, skipping a beat, then two. My feet froze beneath me, rooted to the grass as if the earth itself had reached up to hold me in place.
She reached for me.
Her hand cut through the air, fingers spread, aimed directly at my arm. I backstepped—fast, instinctive, the way I had moved a hundred times during our chase. But she was already there. Her hand followed my movement like she had known where I would go before I did.
What is this?
