***Cassius***
I stood there with the door barely cracked open, staring at Aldrik through the narrow gap.
He looked destroyed. Hair falling across his forehead from where he'd been running his hands through it, eyes shadowed and desperate, every muscle in his body pulled taut like a wire about to snap.
"I'm not leaving," he said, and the words came out low, almost pleading. "Not until you hear me."
"There's nothing you can say…"
"Please."
The single word cut through my protest. I glanced past him at the empty street, early evening, but someone could walk by at any moment. The last thing I needed was the entire town overhearing whatever this was about to become.
I stepped back and opened the door wider.
"Inside," I said curtly. "Now."
Aldrik entered quickly, and I closed the door with more force than necessary, the latch clicking loud in the silence.
