Lucian:
By the time we left the ruin, I couldn't feel my fingers.
Not from cold—though the night air had turned to frost—but from what she'd said, what it had all meant.
My skin still burned from the echo of the curse, a phantom fire that crept along my veins like ivy, binding me tighter to Ari with every step.
She walked beside me, silent. Not even a glance in my direction.
Good.
I didn't trust myself to look at her without saying something I couldn't take back.
The witch's words ran circles in my skull.
When the wolf bows to the witch, and the witch bares her throat to the wolf…
It wasn't just about a treaty or a truce. It was about surrender, and I didn't know how to do that, not to her, not to anyone.
We reached the edge of the clearing again, the trees parting like they'd been holding their breath. The exiled witch was behind us, her presence like smoke clinging to our heels.
"You still don't understand," she said, stepping out from the shadows like she'd never stopped watching.
