Damien’s pov:
I stayed away on purpose.
It wasn't that the mansion was dangerous—it was that I was. Not yet, not like this.
We set up a temporary base in an old abandoned factory miles away from the spot where we’d been ambushed. It was a miserable place. It smelled like rusted metal, stagnant water, and the copper tang of blood from men who had died there long before I was born. My team moved like ghosts in the dim light, fixing their cuts and cleaning their guns.
I stood by a window with no glass, watching the rain drift inside. Outside, the city was a blurred mess of gray and black. Somewhere out there, Sera was probably awake. Or maybe she was asleep, dreaming of things she couldn't quite remember. I didn't know.
I didn't call her.
I knew that if I heard the softness of her voic
