“Ivana.”
I heard Kyl calling my name, but I didn’t answer. I just stared out the window again, watching the wind flirt with the trees just beyond the wrought iron gates. A bird darted past, wings slicing through the late afternoon light, vanishing into the open. I followed it with my eyes until it disappeared.
Freedom, that bird flies freely, but I am not free.
I felt his presence in the room long before I even heard his footsteps. He didn’t need to say anything.
“I’ve been calling you.”
His voice was soft, but there was a tightness coiled around it, like wire pulled too tight.
I didn't answer.
Instead I curled my fingers around the edge of the windowsill, the cold marble grounded me.
He came closer. I saw the ghost of his reflection in the glass..... tall, composed, impossibly be
