It came six days later, and it came exactly as it promised.
We had gone home to the camp to rest, to let Lark sleep somewhere warm for the first time in her life, to let Kael catch up to us at last, and for six days I let myself believe we had bought a little time. Then, in the black hour before dawn, Lark sat bolt upright in the tent she shared with Wynn and screamed.
I was there in seconds. Kael a half-step behind me, finally, blessedly, arrived the night before, his hand already on his blade.
"Two," Lark sobbed, her small body rigid, her eyes distant and streaming. "It went quiet in two places at once. Far apart. One north, one south. Both packs. Both about to throw away. Right now, Renna, right now, and I can't, I can't listen to both, they're too far apart, one's going to happen an
