A muscle jumped in his jaw, though he otherwise appeared calm as they walked.

“Don’t you think it,” he said, dropping his voice, “a little improper, to scorch the ones your loved ones care about?”

He flinched when she targeted his absence. He did have a way of disappearing – albeit temporarily, thus far.

“No, Nisa,” he admitted, voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve covered your tracks instead.”

He bet she thought she was impeccable. Untouchable. A lone dragon in the wind, oblivious to the sweepers of ash below her.

“That,” he gritted out between a smile with teeth, voice level once more, “was my naivety. You said one thing – Baba said the same.”

And neither had made sense. He laced his hands behind him, ignoring the racing of his heart as the corner approached.

“Is that what you’ve wanted? Someone to stop you?”

He caught a glimpse of figures up ahead when they rounded the house … awfully familiar figures. Oh well. He had given them a head start; he doubted they had heard anything. But by Allah, he hoped they didn’t look back.