writeandpublish-book

Some people are born into their lives. Rio was dropped into his. No memories. No past. No name that felt entirely like his own. Just a city that never quite felt like home, a body that didn''''t feel like his, and a world that operated by rules he was still learning to survive. In this world, men are rare. Rare enough to be watched. Rare enough to be protected. Rare enough that simply walking down a corridor draws eyes that don''''t look away. Rio has learned to move through it quietly — the same streets every morning, the same school, the same careful routine. Boring, yes. But boring is safe. And safe, he has learned, is the only luxury worth holding onto. But then there are the people. A mother whose love is so fierce it frightens her. A sister whose protectiveness wraps around him like iron and warmth at the same time. A friend who ran toward him when everyone else kept their distance — and whose heartbeat against his chest says something neither of them are ready to put into words. And somewhere beneath all of it — a dream that keeps returning. A darkness that breathes. A light he can never reach. A little girl standing in the middle of it, torn and weeping, asking a question that has no answer yet. Why did you leave me? Rio doesn''''t know who he was before. But whoever he is becoming — something is already moving toward him. And it won''''t ask permission.