“Emily!”

I ran blindly, not seeing where I was going. Not caring. I was dimly aware of people scattering to the left and to the right of me. Hot tears flew out of my eyes, blurring my vision.

Outside, I ran headlong into a security guard and dropped my shopping bag. I heard glass shattering and smelled the sudden, intense scent of my new perfume now soaking the concrete and permeating the air. The guard began scolding me in heavily punctuated French, shaking his fists at me. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. The only thing that mattered was putting as much distance between myself and Sebastian as quickly as possible. I kept running.

I ran until I got a stitch in my side that sucked the breath clean out of me. Stopping, I looked around me as I struggled to catch my breath. I was surrounded by unfamiliar buildings. I tried to figure out where I was, but my internal compass seemed to be malfunctioning.

“Emily? Is it you?”

I turned around, ready to start running again. And saw Victoire standing behind me.