Rissa’s POV

Dusk settles slowly over the Louisiana marsh.

The sky turns a deep copper above the cypress trees, and the humidity thickens as if the bayou itself is reluctant to release us. Insects hum somewhere beyond the safehouse walls. Water laps softly against the muddy banks in the distance.

Everything looks calm.

But the tension inside the compound says otherwise.

Mark’s soldiers move quietly through the clearing, preparing vehicles and securing supply bags. No armor. No royal ...