The next morning feels wrong.
Not just because of what happened the night before, not because of the kiss, or the blood in my mouth, or the echo of gunfire that woke me in the dark.
It’s wrong because Valen still isn’t back.
The safehouse is silent. Too silent.
I search every room, calling his name until my voice goes hoarse. His duffel bag’s gone, the one he never leaves behind. On the kitchen counter sits a half-drunk cup of coffee, cold.
And beside it, a phone. Mine.
Only now, it’s on.
The screen flashes with missed calls, dozens of them.
And a text from an unsaved number.
Unknown: You can’t bury ghosts, Elara.
I drop the phone. My pulse stutters.
That name, that voice in my head when I read it, it can’t be.
Liam.
He’s not here. He can’t be here. I watched him disappear. I
