Emily’s POV

The cabin smelled like damp wood and old dust, the kind of scent that clung to the air after a long rain. A single lantern was on the nightstand, its light was weak over the room. The floorboards creaked beneath my bare feet as I moved, the old wooden walls doing little to keep out the cold that seeped through the cracks.

Cole sat on the edge of the worn-out bed, his shirt discarded on the floor, leaving his torso bare. The gash on his side stretched across his ribs, an ugly, jagged wound that sent a sick feeling rolling through my stomach. Blood had dried in uneven...