The apartment building was nondescript, a bland, middle-class structure designed to be forgotten.
A place for secrets. I led the way, my body protesting every movement. The flight had been a trial, and the stiffness in my leg was a constant, grinding reminder of my own fragility.
Kairen followed a step behind, his silence now thick with a suspicion that had curdled into a low-grade anger.
At the door, I pulled the key from my pocket. A small, silver passkey, cold against my skin. Aisha had given it to me that night we tried to rescue him.
Before we left she'd pressed it into my palm, her fingers cold.
If anything ever happens to me.
There's something here for him. You'll know where. I'd never asked how she knew, with such chilling certainty, that I would be the one to survive her. She just did. We were both pieces on the same board, and she had always been able to see three moves ahead.
