The safehouse was hidden at the edge of nowhere, a crumbling estate swallowed by the woods, the kind of place that didn’t exist on maps. Valen’s men had driven us for hours through rain-slick roads before disappearing into the night, leaving behind nothing but fog and silence.
I stood by the window, staring out at the dark blur of trees, the echo of tires long gone. The air inside was cold, the kind of chill that clung to bones. Outside, the world was wet and humming with crickets. Inside, it was too still, too quiet.
Valen hadn’t said a word since we got here. He’d walked straight to the far room, tossed his gun on the table, and started pacing like a caged animal.
He looked different now.
Harder.
Colder.
The kind of man who’d seen too much and was terrified of showing it.
I wanted
