The Asphalt Trap

Raina’s POV

The midnight blue felt like a shroud the moment I stepped out of the plaza. The cold, biting air of Manhattan hit my exposed skin, a sharp contrast to the suffocating heat of the ballroom and the even more suffocating weight of Kaelen's gaze. My pulse was still erratic, a jagged drumming in my throat that I couldn't seem to quiet. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the phantom pressur