Lydia sat in the steaming water, trying to calm the tremors that were threatening to shake her entire body. The heat of the bath should have relaxed her, but her skin felt cold, a chill deep in her bones that she couldn't shake.
She pulled her knees closer to her chest, the water rippling gently around her, but it did nothing to ease the tightness in her chest. Her breathing was shallow, and her eyes were red-rimmed from the tears she hadn't even realized she'd been crying. It felt like she was drowning in her own thoughts, the silence pressing in on her like thick fog.
Ruslan was alive. The thought kept circling in her mind, hammering at her. His message had been clear: he was coming for her. The promise he'd made to her on the ship that night... It felt like a lifetime ago, but it was real. Too real. She could feel the weight of his words pressing down on her chest. The letter had been written in blood, and even now, the sight of those words haunted her.
