Lucia
The forest was quieter than usual, as if it, too, held its breath.
Lucia shifted in her saddle, the jostle of the horse beneath her a rough counterpoint to the tight coil of nerves in her belly. Each hoofbeat seemed to echo Kaelen's last command, a possessive hum that resonated deep in her bones. The hickey on her neck, now hidden beneath her cloak, still tingled faintly, a secret brand of his desperation.
The familiar trees of Blackwood thinned behind her, their towering silhouettes giving way to the ancient, wilder stretch of forest that lay ahead—uncharted and uneasy. Above, the sky had paled to a misty gray, clouds bleeding into one another like bruises.
Behind her, the wards shimmered faintly, a silver sheen only visible at a certain angle, like the edge of a blade. She didn
