Sera's Pov
Kael didn't come back with the group.
It had been days since Denise and the others returned, in silence and shadows, each of them carrying more weight than when they left. I remembered the way they had come in—mud-caked boots, blood-smeared clothes, and grim faces that refused to meet mine. One of them clutched a child to her chest, a little girl too quiet for her age, her eyes too wide, too knowing. But Kael... he wasn't with them.
Denise had stepped forward after a long moment, her expression unreadable, and told me what happened—that Lucian's soldiers tried to take the child hostage, and Kael stepped in. She said he stayed behind to ensure their escape.
It should've made sense. It should have been easy to believe.
