Raven’s POV
The engines didn’t fade.
They only got louder.
I yanked my jeans up so fast I nearly tripped over my own boot. Jax was already across the room, shirt half-buttoned, rifle strap slung over one shoulder. The knife he’d bled on a minute ago disappeared into his belt like it had always belonged there.
“They’re not waiting for dusk,” I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt.
“No shit.” Jax crossed to the window and peered through a crack in the boards. His jaw worked, the muscle ticking under his skin. “I count headlights. Maybe twenty. There’s more behind the ridge, engines I can hear but can’t see.”
Twenty I could handle. Twenty plus whatever was hiding behind that ridge was a different math.
I closed my eyes and reached for the threads. They came slower than I wanted
