Chapter 21 – What We Don’t Say
Malikye’s POV
Walking beside her didn’t feel like a choice anymore.
It felt like instinct.
And that should’ve bothered me more than it did.
The forest closed in around us again, shadows stretching long beneath the trees as the moon slipped behind drifting clouds. The Veilwood wasn’t as hostile as it had been before, but it wasn’t calm either. It felt… restless. Like something beneath the surface was shifting, waiting for the right moment to rise again.
Or maybe that was just me.
I kept my pace steady, falling naturally in step with Lyra. Not behind her. Not ahead of her.
Beside her.
Every time.
I told myself it was strategic.
It wasn’t.
The quiet between us lingered—not empty, not awkward, but full of everything neither of us had said. The kind of
