“Tell me you smell it too.”
Eamon pulled his horse up short at the treeline, the animal’s breath pluming in pale streams that curled and vanished. The forest before them glowed faintly as if moonlight had sunk into the bark and decided to live there. Sienna slid from her saddle without answering. She didn’t need her captain’s nose to confirm what the air had already told her: silver had fallen here, and the ground was still remembering how to hold it.
The night had stalled at a strange hour, too late for birds, too early for wolves. Leaves whispered in a language that sounded like prayer if one stood far enough away. Up close it was only wind through dying things. Her boots met ash-soft soil. The mark on her wrist warmed like a coal relit.
“Keep the men in the clearing,” she said. “No s
