THERESA
There was a shift in Nikolai. I don’t even know how I so definitively understood this. One moment, he was his usual grumpy self, with dark clouds hanging over him. And the next moment, something just seemed lighter about him.
At first, I thought I imagined it. But as we traveled, something was… different. His shoulders weren’t as tense. His ears weren’t flicking back toward every sound like they usually did. And when I stumbled over uneven snow, his head turned—just for a second—before he returned his focus forward. The realization crept over me slowly. There was a shift in Nikolai.
I didn’t think I’d ever felt so in tune with someone before. I’d never been so aware of someone’s mood, especially someone that was well-practiced at keeping a poker face. But the longer we traveled
