IRIS POV - CHAPTER 54
The forest stretched endlessly around us, the pale afternoon light filtering through the thick canopy in jagged lines that danced across the uneven ground, and yet none of it mattered as much as the tension that thrummed like a live wire between the people walking ahead and beside me. We moved in a loose formation, Jay taking the lead, his posture rigid, deliberate, and every movement controlled with the precision of someone who had been trained to measure each step against unseen consequences, while Skye kept close to my right, moving almost silently, his presence a constant reassurance, the kind that doesn’t need words to make you feel protected, as if his entire being was attuned to shielding me without ever overstepping or drawing attention to the weight of him.
