Scarlett’s POV
I should have known peace like that wouldn’t last.
There was a weight in the air when we fled the burning house. Not just smoke. Not just gunpowder. It was like the sky itself had taken a breath it didn’t want to release. As though even the wind knew something worse was coming.
Jasper clutched his wounded arm, refusing help. Blood soaked through his sleeve, dripping across the floor of the van. Miriam tried to apply pressure, hands trembling, but he waved her off with a stubborn grunt. Elias was silent beside them, radio pressed to his mouth, giving coordinates, tracking threats, issuing instructions that didn’t make sense.
And me?
I sat in the corner of the vehicle, knees hugged to my chest, back against the cold steel, unable to think.
Everything in my body still sho
