Numb to the Storm

The room was dimly lit. Only one desk lamp burned in the corner, throwing long shadows across the damp walls of the safe house.

Maeve stood before the table, both hands busy checking the weapons she had laid out neatly an hour ago—checking magazines, ensuring full loads, testing the folding mechanisms of each knife.

Lenora sat in a chair near the window. She had parted the curtain as thinly as p