Chapter 167

• Tristan’s POV
• The small wooden boat finally came to a stop, and I jumped into the shallow water, the early rising sun stretching long shadows across the cold surface. It bit at my legs as I waded toward dry land, each step heavy, unsteady—like a defeated man who had lost everything.
• My mind kept dragging me back to that moment. Rose turning away. Choosing to go back to Kavian, back into danger, instead of taking my hand and stepping into the boat. I had called out to her. Again and again. She never turned. Now she was gone—gone in a way that felt final, absolute.