Aveline turned to look at him. But she did not meet his eyes. She couldn't. Not after what she had seen there earlier.
That fear. That same fear she had seen somewhere else.
Her grip around Hamilton tightened.
If these people knew that she had one of those creatures they hunted and feared was acting like a pet with her… it was not good for her, and not good for Hamilton either.
"He's my pet, from back home," she said.
And then, without another word, she moved.
In a single, fluid motion, she leapt toward the nearest tree, her body acting before her thoughts could catch up. Aelion stepped forward instinctively, reaching out.
"Careful—!"
But he was too late.
Aveline slipped from his grasp like a shadow, catching a branch with ease and pulling herself up into the dense canopy. Leaves swallowed her form as she climbed higher, deeper, until she found a place hidden from sight.
A place that felt… safe.
