I smelled the gunpowder before I heard the scream.
It cut through the forest air, sharp, bitter, wrong. My blood reacted instantly, heat roaring through my veins like a warning siren.
By the time the cabin came into view, my vision had already started to change. Colors sharpened. Sounds stretched. My pulse stopped being human.
Aurora. That was the only thought in my head as I crashed through the snow, my boots barely touching the ground. The woods bent around me, trees blurring as I moved faster than I ever should have been able to.
I reached the cabin just as another shout tore through the night.
“DON’T MOVE!”
The door was half open. Light spilled out, orange and unsteady, flickering against the snow. I could hear Aurora’s breathing, fast, terrified. I could hear another heartbeat,
