He sniffed the air, catching the coppery tang.
I didn’t flinch.
The curse of a best friend who’d known me far too long was that he didn’t always listen to warnings. He’d seen me at my worst and thought that gave him the right to poke at the line like now. He believed he was helping. He always did.
Albericus had been urging me to step back from Ruby, to give her space so she wouldn’t attract attention. His logic made sense in theory. But he didn’t understand he couldn’t. The moment the decision was made to claim her as mine, she became a target. That truth didn’t change, no matter how carefully I tread. Pulling back now wouldn’t protect her. It would just mean wasting precious time.
So no, I wouldn’t hold back any more than I already had. The mere thought of it was absurd.
“You’ve take
