Quinn’s POV
The first shadow lunged, its body shaped like a wolf but stretched grotesquely, its jaws unhinged wider than nature allowed.
Quinn didn’t think. He shoved Rowan behind him and raised his arm to block, bracing for impact. The creature hit him like a storm. Claws raked across his forearm, ripping through flesh, but Quinn didn’t let himself fall. He snarled, shoving his elbow upward, and slammed his fist into the shadow’s snout.
It shrieked—an awful, piercing sound like glass breaking inside his skull.
The abyss reacted. The ground trembled, fissures opening in the ashen floor, spewing sparks of black fire. More shadows moved in the distance, swarming, their shapes shifting with each heartbeat—some wolves, some humanoid, others little more than writhing masses of smoke.
“Papa
