-Ezra:
I didn't want to walk with them. Not really. Not that I didn't want to, but… I wished Julian had stayed with me. I wanted him close, wanted to feel that tether that kept me steady, but I understood. He had let them talk to me alone. He trusted me enough to let me go with them and trusted them enough to let them go with me. And I trusted him in return.
So I walked behind them, my steps careful and deliberate, my eyes taking in every detail. I looked at them from head to toe, trying to understand them before they could even speak. The shorter one, I guessed, was the witch. The taller one, though… he radiated something different. The way he moved, the way he carried himself—I knew. He was like me, an enigma.
