Finn
*****Late Morning — The Broken Clearing*****
Everything was wrong.
Not the normal wrong, like when Lucian yelled or when Mama and Dad argued about stupid things.
Not even the wrong that came with running or hiding.
This was something else.
The air smelled burned, thick and bitter like something had died and never been buried. Ash floated down like black snow. The ground was cracked and smoking, and everywhere I looked there were people screaming, falling, bleeding.
The world felt broken.
I was holding Fia’s hand so tight my fingers hurt, but I didn’t care.
“Don’t let go,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
“I won’t,” I promised. “I swear.”
Shadow-wolves were everywhere.
They weren’t like normal wolves. Their fur was dark and twisted, their eyes hollow and empty like somethi
