Chapter 187

Eric POV

The night stretched, the air cold, heavy with the weight of everything I’d left behind. I stepped onto the street without a bag, no jacket, just my phone gripped so tightly in my hand it felt like it might shatter. My breath fogged in the cold as I walked, each step echoing louder than the last. The echo of my mother’s voice still rang in my head, every cruel syllable pressing like needles beneath my skin.

I didn’t even remember pressing Dorian’s number. My fingers just moved, like instinct. The dial tone hummed in my ear, dragging out until his voice, soft and familiar, whispered through the speaker.

“Eric?”

“Can I come over?” My voice cracked.

He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll text you the address. I’ll wait for you.”

The city felt like a blur