A Loaded Weapon Left Behind

A draft of salt-heavy air cut through the bamboo slatted kitchen window, chilling the bare skin of my arms. Kaelen reached past me, driving the thick brass bolt into the wooden frame with a hollow clunk.

"We were supposed to be the only ones on this desolate rock," he muttered under his breath, his knuckles white against the dark timber.

I leaned back against the counter, my arms tightly folde