Kael's POV
I watched her walk ahead of us and said nothing.
She'd shaken her head when I asked what happened. One small, deliberate movement that told me everything except the truth.
There was a stillness in her; it was brittle and carefully maintained, like someone balancing something fragile inside themselves and daring the world to notice. Her shoulders were straight. Her steps were measured. Her eyes forward. She moved through the snow as if she could will herself invisible, as if the world might pass through her if she kept her pace even.
"She's holding something in," Fenrir said.
I could see it. The tension radiating from her in waves she was working very hard to contain.
"Do you believe her?" Ryker muttered beside me, his voice sharp.
"No," I said.
He exhaled harshly and fru
