*Zeke*

Mira stood there, and for the first time, she didn’t seem like her usual energetic, confident self. My Shadow Guards had already informed me that she had been hiding in the tree earlier, but I chose not to call her out. She had secrets, but I’d rather she come forward with them willingly.

She stared into me, a whirl of emotions in her eyes, but meanwhile her gaze was distant and unfocused. It had only been a few days since I last saw her, yet she looked thinner, ...