Chapter 226

*Elora*

The sound of footsteps reached me before the figure emerged. I already knew it was him. Rowan had a way of filling a space with silence, of dragging his grief behind him like it was chained to his ribs.

I was sitting in the dim glow of the tower’s last candle, the flame fighting against the midnight draft. The others were sleeping, or at least pretending to. I wasn’t. Neither was he.

He st