Tears burned Tess's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She walked back the way she had come, each step heavier, slower, dragging with her heartache. Until she nearly stumbled straight into Aven.
He nodded once and moved past her, his stride measured, but a chill crept over him as he realized she had fallen into step behind him. Her presence lingered like a shadow he couldn't shake.
"I'm coming with you, if you don't mind," Tess said, her voice even but carrying that undertone of defiance he remembered all too well.
His jaw tightened. "Please, do not follow. Go on your way." His words were calm, clipped, the kind of command that usually ended a conversation.
But Tess ignored him. Oddly, she didn't even flinch. Her boots tapped softly against the stone path, keeping pace with his. For a moment he wondered if he had misspoken, if he had chosen the wrong phrasing in her tongue.
