KELLAN WARD
Kellan didn't remember the last time he'd slept—not really. Maybe he'd closed his eyes for a handful of minutes in the back of the SUV while Jingyu barked orders into three different phones, but real sleep was impossible.
Every time he slowed down, every time he stopped moving, the silence rushed in.
He couldn't stand the quiet. Couldn't stand what it meant.
Aurora was gone.
His wife, his little butterfly, his reason for living. Gone.
Worry pressed against his chest until each breath became shallow and desperate. In that suffocating stillness, he could hear only the terrible truth echoing through the empty spaces where her laughter should have been.
He'd let her slip through his fingers. She'd been right there. Fragile and battered. Alone. She should've been safe in her hospital bed. He should've never left her side. Hadn't he promised to protect her?
