Forest:
The scent hit me the moment I stepped into the lower levels—earth, blood, rot, and rusted iron. The dungeon beneath the packhouse was silent, save for the occasional drip of moisture from the stone ceiling. The walls were damp, the air thick, clinging to my skin like something alive.
I descended slowly, each bootfall a thud echoing through the darkness. I could hear my own pulse in my ears. I hadn’t slept. Not really. I’d dozed in a chair last night, half-drunk on worry, while Stella lay curled up with a hand over her stomach, dreaming of a future I wasn’t sure I could protect.
Because someone wanted our future.
And they would kill to get it.
They’d taken too much already. I wasn’t about to let them take my family.
I reached the bottom of the stairs and was met by Eli and Kas
