Nyx's Pov

The trip back from Silver Hollow felt longer than the journey there.

The mist had stayed behind, but its strange pull still lingered in my bones, as though Lily's Bloom had tied itself to me in some invisible way.

Ryker walked beside me in silence, our boots crunching on the gravel path that led out of Peaches Valley and back toward the heart of the city.

The flower, carefully wrapped in a damp cloth and placed inside my backpack, was as safe as we could make it. ...