CLAUDE
I sighed, shifting my bag on my shoulder, falling into step behind him. The gangway creaked beneath our feet, the sea breeze sharp against my face, like nature itself was trying to push me forward.
The dock was chaos. Engines rumbled, voices shouted over one another, the reality of the shore smacking me in the face after endless blue. It was too loud. Too real.
When my feet hit the wood, I froze. I glanced down at the spot where I had stood before, with Amelia. My chest tightened. A part of me wished I could just leave, that I could go back to the life I knew. But then Nikolai looked back at me, his sunglasses hiding his eyes, but not the deep frown etched on his face.
"Come with me, Claude," he said.
My heart stopped. For a split second, I wasn't sure if he meant i
