Nobody moved. Nobody breathed, for one long, suspended second, while the burning shape at the treeline simply stood there, watching the fire — watching Luna specifically — with a stillness that felt far more deliberate than anything a trick of light should be capable of.
Then Kade stepped forward, sword drawn, placing himself squarely between the apparition and his wife. "Whatever you are," he said, voice low and dangerous, "you don't get near her."
The shape tilted its head, slow and unnatural, and when it spoke, the voice that came out was Luna's own — flattened and distant, like an echo of an echo. You already let it happen once, Wolf. What makes you think tonight is different?
Luna felt every hair on her arms rise. Beside her, Kade's sword hand didn't waver, but something in his exp
