Chapter 6

I was surprised by the calmness with which he accepted what I had just discovered.

“No. Not now.”

“This is what the training was for, then?”

I hesitated. Mirko was well taught, but he meant something else.

“Well, basically, yes,” I admitted. “But you won’t have to take care of your sister alone as long as I’m here to protect you. I swear.”

We were both silent for a moment. I looked at the void ahead of me and the clarity of the mine lights that could be distinguished between the snowy trees of the forest. My son squeezed me harder, his hand slid under my jacket until it came into contact with the moisture of the blood that permeated my clothes, and he was scared.

His fear flowed freely in the air.

“Dad, does it hurt a lot?” he whimpered. “Are you very bad? There’s a lot of blood, it smells funny.”

“I still have a lot of blood, champion. Do not worry about me.” He could smell and taste slightly ferrous on his tongue, but he wasn’t lying