The walk back was completely silent.
Yoru moved ahead of him at the same unhurried pace she always did, her wings folded, her expression unreadable from behind.
She was completely and utterly silent. It was almost as if he or anything around her didn't exist.
It was far from the comfortable silence that followed them through the journey to Phoenix territory.
This was different.
This was the silence of someone who had decided that speaking would require letting something out that they weren't ready to let out yet.
Damon could feel the layer of it. The controlled edge underneath everything she wasn't saying.
He, however, neither cared nor minded the quiet. He already had enough thoughts racing through his mind.
Ivy.
No matter how many times he turned it over during the walk, the image of her standing in that valley in Phoenix territory with a hood over her face didn't get easier to process.
