The horizon was gray with the residue of the explosion. Natalie ran until her body could no longer tell the difference between exhaustion and pain. Her boots splashed through puddles on the uneven road, the air thick with the metallic scent of burnt concrete. Every step echoed with one question—where was Ethan?
Her son.
Her heartbeat thudded against her ribs as she reached the edge of an abandoned train yard. The rusted carriages lay motionless like skeletons, paint peeled, metal moaning in the wind. She climbed into one of them, crouching low near a shattered window, trying to catch her breath. The world outside was eerily silent, except for the occasional drip of rain from the roof.
Her mind replayed Adrian’s words over and over.
He didn’t sell him. He saved him.
Saved him from what
