I find Poppy curled up around the puppies, the rest of our friends standing off to the side, talking by the light of Vander. Beckett looks up, beckons me but I ignore him, at least for now. His frown follows my actions when the lantern makes a soft thunk as I set it down in the middle of the area they'd cleared for sleeping. Poppy's eyes flicker open to catch mine at the sound.
"I'm tired of talking," she says. Yawns. Golden Shine mimics her before snuggling closer with a soft murmur and a smack of his lips.
"I know," I say, stretching out next to her, head on my arm, stroking a clump of hair from her cheek, back behind her ear. "But I have a question for you."
Tears well, trickling down to pool in the hollow of her eye and nose before spilling down the line of her nose and into her hai
