Chapter 21 : Shadows and Trials II
Al's POV
For a long, hollow second he didn’t move. The silence stretched so thin I could hear my own pulse knocking against my temples. Then the chair scraped the floor and Ruby was suddenly there—closer than I’d expected, his presence folding over me like a warm shadow. I felt him before I saw him: the vibration in the air, the soft intake of breath, the particular way his scent tightened the air.
When I lifted my head, his face had shifted into something raw and unvarnished—shock, then hesitation, then an ache I couldn’t name. His lips hovered as if he had words trapped behind them, but nothing fell out.
I tried to make it simple. “Speak, please,” I begged, voice smaller than I wanted. “It’s simple, Ruby. Just say you don’t want me, and I’ll leave.
