The man’s eyes widened—and he collapsed.
The rooftop went still.
Kiki crawled to her mother, the concrete scraping her knees. She pressed both hands against the wound, trying to stop the blood. “Mama, please, please?—”
Her mother’s breath came shallow. “Shhh,sayang… no tears.”
Her head tipped forward. Her eyes went glassy.
“Mama?”
Kiki wanted to scream when she heard the voices rising from below. She wanted to tear the world apart when the heavy boots pounded up the stairwell.
More men.
More men like the one who hurt her beautiful mama. They rounded the corner and stopped short. Kiki could hear them muttering prayers and curses under their breath as they took in the two bodies sprawled in the heat.
She didn’t look at them. She couldn’t.
Her mother’s words echoed in her mind.Go to Father Bishop.
Arms grabbed her from behind. She screamed, twisting. “No! Let me go!”
Her mother’s body lay still. Her thick, black hair had come loose from its braid. Something inside Kiki broke. The grief, the terror—it all turned to sound.
She screamed.
And the power inside her answered.
The men dropped where they stood—one after another—their eyes wide, their mouths open, their hearts bursting in their chests.
Then… silence.
Kiki crawled back to her mother and pressed her face into her hair. Her hand reached down to press over her mother’s heart. She waited for a heartbeat that never came. The world smelled of heat, rain, and blood.
Voices echoed from the stairwell below—more were coming.
She lifted her head, her vision blurred, and staggered to the low wall at the edge of the roof. Her mother had hidden a rope ladder there.
“Only for emergencies,” she’d said. “Like climbing your favoritetree.”
Kiki’s fingers shook as she dragged it up and over the edge. The rope thumped down the wall.
She turned back one last time. Her mother lay surrounded by the fallen, her face peaceful at last.
“I’ll come back for you,” Kiki whispered.
Her breath came in uneven hiccups as she swung her small legs over the edge and climbed down into the maze of narrow streets—running, barefoot and trembling, away from the heat, the blood, and the only home she’d ever known.
Kiki blinked as she looked up at Nikos, tears glimmering in her eyes. Her vision shimmered, but not from sorrow alone—there was something about the way he saw her, as if he was trying to carry the weight of her memories with her.
She stared around her in confusion. When did he guide her to the kitchen table without her noticing? Heck, when did he make her tea? She looked down at the steaming mug on the table with a dazed expression. The peppermint curled upward, crisp and soothing.
“When did…” she murmured.
“You looked like you needed something to comfort you,” he said quietly.
She wrapped her hands around the mug and breathed in, letting the sharp, fragrant aroma seep into the cracks inside her. The warmth spread through her chest as she sipped—soothing, anchoring.
