Mia's POV

The air was too still after Xander’s footsteps faded.

I stood rooted where he had left me, the cold bite of his absence spreading through my chest like frost.

He hadn’t even looked back. He didn't utter any words nor signal to me, he just left.

The ache was sharp at first, then it began to settle in, spreading through me like slow poison.

Aria’s gaze flicked from me to the hooded woman at the edge of the clearing, the seer.

The woman’s stillness after what ...