Kael's POV
Ryker disappeared without a word, and I let him go.
Any other situation, I would have stopped him. That was how I'd always kept things from unraveling—staying two steps ahead, holding the reins, making sure nothing slipped through the gaps. But today was different.
Today, we didn't control her.
That was the entire point of the terms I'd laid out in the forest. If I reached for control now, everything I'd said meant nothing. So I stayed where I was and watched.
Ayla hadn't moved far. She was still near the same shelf, the scarf long since put back where she'd found it. Her hands hung at her sides, slightly awkward, like she didn't quite know what to do with herself when she wasn't actively trying to disappear.
That unsettled me more than I expected.
How long had she spent
