“Daddy, Mommy said I was a burden and locked me here,” my 7-year-old wept from inside a dog cage. Returning from war, my heart shattered. Then, my wife walked out in silk with a stranger, shocked to see me alive. She thought I was dead-unaware that a trained soldier’s wrath had just begun…

like a piece of glass in my throat.

The shape stirred. She didn’t jump. She didn’t cry out. She shifted slowly, the way a wounded animal moves when it expects another blow. When her face turned toward me, I felt a part of my soul simply wither and die.

Her skin was the color of old parchment. There were dark, violet hollows beneath her eyes that spoke continue reading …