A bitter wind rose with the approaching storm, howling through the pines as fat raindrops pelted the forest floor. Aria hurried beneath the groaning canopy, grimacing when a branch snapped overhead, sending a curtain of icy water drenching her cloak. Lightning flashed in the distance, revealing a half-collapsed structure nestled among the twisted trunks.
She ducked inside, heart thudding. The abandoned cabin wasn’t much, a single room of leaning walls and a shaky roof. But it stood firm enough to hold off the worst of the downpour. She could make out a broken table in one corner and a rickety set of shelves in the other, all caked in dust and cobwebs.
Exhaling, she squeezed water from her hair, cursing quietly. She’d been tracking Malachai’s trail for hours, losing it again and again in
