The word hung between us on the empty sunlit road.
Venna's eyes stayed locked on mine, steady and full of something I still didn't have a name for—something deep, layered, and quietly hungry.
A light breeze moved through the trees lining both sides of the road, rustling leaves in soft waves and carrying the faint, warm scent of grass and dry earth, sun-heated bark, and distant wildflowers.
"Are you sure?" she asked, her voice softer now, almost testing the ground beneath the question. Her head tilted a fraction, blue hair shifting across her shoulder.
That made me pause. Not long, but real. The road stretched silent in both directions, heat shimmering faintly off the asphalt, my pulse kicking up a slow, heavy rhythm in my throat.
"I'm certain," I said, the words coming out low and firm.
