Alaric was there before my knees even hit the ground. His eyes were sharp, muscles coiled, fangs already bared as if ready to tear something apart.
He scanned the trees. Left. Right. Behind me. Nothing.
Then his gaze cut to me.
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. All I could do was point with a trembling finger at the pale hand jutting from the leaves.
Alaric’s shoulders loosened—just slightly. A sigh slipped past his lips, though I couldn’t tell if it was relief or something darker.
He strode forward, nudging the hand with the toe of his boot as if expecting it to twitch, to grab him. When it didn’t, he crouched and began to sweep the leaves away.
The face beneath the earth was chalky white, eyes half-closed, lips tinged blue.
Sage burst through the trees just as the last of the le
