The bodyguard's warning
There was no warmth in the morning. The kind of cold that lingered in the bones had settled over the city, a damp, watchful chill that made even breath feel heavier. Clouds hung low in the pale, overcast sky, swollen and unmoving, as though they too were listening—eavesdropping on secrets whispered below. The city passed beneath them in muted grays and washed-out colors, streets slick with the memory of rain, buildings half-asleep and unaware that something fragile and dangerous was moving through them.
In the rear seat of the armored SUV, Emilia sat rigidly upright, her hands clasped so tightly in her lap that her fingers had gone numb. She stared out the window, but she wasn’t truly seeing anything. The streets blurred together—corners she barely recognized, la
