Alaric’s POV

I’m not thinking about her. That’s the first lie. The second is that I’ve stopped checking my phone.

I don’t pick it up this time. Don’t look at the screen; don’t open the message thread that hasn’t changed in hours. Instead, I stand at the window, watching the treeline as if it’s going to give me answers. It doesn’t.

The forest is still, too still. Bastian notices before I have a chance to say anything.

“You feel that?” he asks quietly.

I nod once. ...