Erick
The air was cool against my skin, carrying the faint scent of rain-soaked earth and pine.
I sat in the car, parked a short distance away from the small cottage that now seemed to mock me with its quiet stillness.
From here, I could see the dim light filtering through the curtains.
It was a world apart from everything I had ever known. From everything we had once shared.
And inside that small, ordinary house… was Sophia.
The woman I had torn the world apart searching for.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest as I stared at that light.
I’d fought wars that spanned continents. I’d faced rogue armies, assassins, even betrayals that had left my soul bleeding, yet none of those had ever made me feel what I felt now.
Fear.
Not the kind that claws at you when death is near, b
