Chapter 18
The hunting lodge did not feel like safety. It felt like exile.
The silence pressed in from every direction, thick and absolute, broken only by the slow creak of wood cooling after a long night of cold. I sat on the floor where I had collapsed hours earlier, my back against the wall, the burner phone heavy in my hand. Dawn filtered through the narrow windows, pale and weak, painting the room in colors that did not belong to any life I recognized.
Twelve hours.
Alexei’s voice echoed in my head. Twelve hours before the truth burned the world or disappeared forever.
I stood slowly, my legs stiff, my body aching with exhaustion that felt older than my bones. The mirror above the sink caught my reflection and for a moment I did not recognize the woman staring back. My hair was t
