Cian left for Goldenridge on a Monday morning with a pack on his back and the specific expression of someone who had been given a direction and was ready to move in it.

Marina walked him to the Bloodfang boundary.

Not because he needed an escort. Because she had not spent enough time with him since everything settled and she was aware of that and she was trying to do something about it in the practical way she did most things, by showing up and being present rather than planning elaborate gestures.

They walked through the camp and Cian said nothing for the first five minutes, which was his version...