Chapter 160. The Vultures

Elona's POV

I didn’t think leaving would feel like this.

I stood in the hallway in my VFS uniform which was black leggings clinging to my legs, the cropped top tight across my ribs, it felt like I was wearing the wrong skin. My body ached in places I didn’t know could ache except for my Endo, but it was nothing compared to the hollow pressure sitting behind my breastbone.

Tristan lifted one of my bags from the floor, and then another. His movements were controlled and too precise, like if he slowed down, something inside him would split open. I watched him when he wasn’t looking. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes. His jaw was tense, the strength in his shoulders weighed down by something invisible and heavy. He looked older this morning, not by years but by loss.

“It’s okay,” he said quietly, as if re