Eliana POV
I didn’t ask where we were going. I just followed him.
It was a long, narrow path, well concealed by a curtain of moss and branches, which you could only see unless you were looking hard. It was as if Alexander knew it by heart, quiet, confident and steady in his foothold, his presence was a keynote by which I was more grounded than I wished to acknowledge.
After everything that happened… I still don’t trust easily.
But I followed.
Not because of the bond.
Because I wanted to.
This took us down a gentle hill which wound down the side of the ridge, sort of forgotten stone stairs that wound further and further into the heart of the forest. Veins of roots tangled into the ground, moonlight barely slashing through the canopy.
At last we came to a stone archway--time worn and
