Tobi’s POV
The fire had long since died in my study, but I hadn’t moved. I sat in the wingback chair near the hearth, wrapped in a cocoon of silence. The moon hung low and heavy through the frosted glass, casting silver across the stone floor. In my hand, I turned the bracelet over and over—Lila’s bracelet. The one I gave her in Forreston for her eighteenth birthday, that the superstitious people believed held ancient protective runes. She used to wear it everyday, until mothers styling deemed it only appropriate when no guests were around. I imagined her twisting it in her fingers just as I was now, missing its presence.
I wanted to tell her. I should have told her. But the truth would only lead to a fight, and we were so tired. She thought she could fool me with her quiet smiles and st
