POV ESMERAYThe house on the cliff was a fortress of glass, cedar, and isolation. Perched high above the Pacific, where the salt spray turned the air into a shimmering mist, it felt like the edge of the world. Below us, the waves crashed against the jagged rocks with a primal, rhythmic violence that echoed the chaos we had left behind in the valley. But up here, surrounded by a perimeter of silent, armed Phantoms, it was the closest thing to peace I had ever known.Ruan hadn't let me out of his sight since we left the Redwoods. Every time I moved, his eyes followed me. Every time I sighed, his hand was on the hilt of his knife. He was a man possessed, driven by a new, terrifyingly focused instinct. He wasn't just a President anymore; he was a guardian of a life that hadn't even begun to kick yet."Eat the soup, Esmeray," Ruan said, his voice a low command as he set a bowl on the wooden table.He was standing in the kitchen, the moonlight through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows ca
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