Chapter 88

Kaelen

The safehouse sits deep in the forest, half-buried in the hillside and almost invisible from the road. It smells of cedar and old smoke, the kind of place built to wait out storms or wars, whichever comes first.

I’d flown us here hours ago, keeping low over the trees, her weight a constant reminder against my chest. She hadn’t woken the whole flight. Too much power, too much strain. I could