"Welcome back."
Emerald stared at the message on her phone as if it was burning into her vision. Her thumb hovered over the screen, not moving at all.
She had looked at the number five times already. It was unlisted and hidden, with no name or location. Just that creepy two-word greeting. Two simple words, but in this context, they carried a weight heavier than stone
Whoever sent it knew she was here.
Her fingers tightened around the device.
Enough was enough.
She turned slowly toward the window, where the early evening wind rustled the curtain like whispering ghosts. The sky was cloudless, painted in strokes of violet and dying orange.
She took a deep breath, then said clearly, "Ares."
She headed to her contacts app, swiped through her contacts, and tapped on his name. The phone hadn't even gotten to her ears before the shadows in the far corner of her room shifted.
And there he was… literally.
