Lila
We rolled to a stop at the edge of a narrow forest path, the crunch of gravel fading into silence as the wheels stilled.
When the door opened, a wave of cool, pine-sweet air swept in, replacing the closeness of velvet cushions and stifled breath with something older. Wilder.
I stepped down, and ahead, tall silver-pine trees formed a natural archway, their trunks pale and straight, their needles whispering even though the wind had stilled.
“This way,” Asher said softly, gesturing to a barely visible path. “It’s just ahead.”
His voice was different here. Stripped of the arrogance I’d come to know. It made me wary.
Still, I followed.
The forest felt thick with memory and I felt as though I was being watched. As if it remembered every footstep that had ever pressed against its roo
