“Then we’ll check the perimeter together,” he murmurs.
I try to move, but my knees nearly buckle. It feels like wading through wet concrete. He crouches so his face is level with mine, hands sliding up to cup either side of my neck, thumbs brushing the base of my throat.
“Tell me exactly what you saw,” he whispers.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Because I know it was him. The way he tilted his head. The exact cadence of his voice. The same words he used at the bookstore.
You’re getting bolder, Lumi.
My stomach drops.
“He said it again,” I rasp.
Andrik’s brows knit together. “Said what?”
“The same phrase he used when he caught me following him. He even tilted his head in the same way.”
Andrik’s hands tighten a fraction. “Lumi... Mark is dead. We both saw him.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I checked. Over and over.”
A gust of wind rattles the branches. I flinch as my eyes scan the shadows.
“But he was here,” I insist. “Right over there, by the clearing. Watching me.”
He studies me for a long moment.
“Then let’s go look,” He says
“At... Mark?”
“Yes,” he says gently. “Let's go find Mark. I’ll take you to the place he died. The forest won’t have consumed him yet.”
Before I can answer, he scoops me into his arms. I don’t protest. I can’t. My mind is spinning, and my muscles won’t cooperate.
I don’t know how long we walk, but eventually he slows, before lowering me to the ground.
“He’s still here, Saelûn,” Andrik says softly, pointing to Mark’s corpse. “I left him where the forest could take him.”
The air leaves my lungs in a single, violent exhale.
“But I saw him,” I whisper. “I just saw him.”
He holds my gaze, searching for something in my expression.“Then we’ll keep checking the woods for whoever you saw.”
His arm slides under my knees, and he carries me deeper into the trees.
The forest blurs around me—snow, bark, breath. I squeeze my eyes shut, but I still see that mask—the tilt of his head.
It was Mark. It had to be Mark.But how?
“I’m not crazy,” I whisper.
“No,” he murmurs against my hair. “You’re not crazy. Not even a little bit. We’ll figure it out together.”
He keeps talking, but his words don’t land. My thoughts spiral instead, circling the image burned behind my eyes.
