** Poppy’s POV **
Alaric moves first, quicker now, cutting across the courtyard toward a stairwell. He takes the steps two at a time, leading us up and through an alleyway that spits us out onto a different street. Bastian stays close at my back, like a silent, brooding shadow.
When we reach the corner, Alaric pauses and glances behind us, his lips twitching into a smirk. “They missed the turn.”
My heart hammers. “How do you know?”
He taps his temple. “Instinct.”
“Or ego,” Bastian grumbles under his breath.
Alaric ignores him and grabs my hand, properly this time, pulling me forward. Heat floods my palm, my breath stutters, and I almost stop walking. Alaric doesn’t look back at me, but his grip tightens slightly, as if he felt it too.
We weave through people on the street before sli
