The shriek split the night like tearing metal.
Before Aria could move, black forms burst from the treeline — half-flesh, half-shadow, their bodies rippling with dark energy. The stench of burnt air filled her lungs, and the ground trembled beneath her boots.
“Get down!” Rowan grabbed her arm, dragging her aside just as a spear of shadow carved through the air where she’d been standing. It slammed into the ground, sizzling, leaving behind a deep, smoking crater.
“Damn it—what are they?” she gasped, her hand igniting with pale Moonfire.
Rowan’s voice was grim, clipped. “The Veil’s soldiers. But these—these aren’t just sent. They were summoned.”
Aria’s heart pounded. “By who?”
He hesitated. “You.”
The word froze her blood.
She didn’t have time to process before another wave of shadows
