The lamp hit the floor and went dark, and for one heartbeat the only light left came from the low, banked fire in the healer's hearth, throwing everything into shifting orange and shadow.
Rohan moved before Elena's mind caught up to what was happening. He was already between her and the door, already shifting at the edges the way she'd only ever heard described, shoulders widening, a low sound tearing out of his chest that had nothing human left in it.
"Get down," he snarled at her, and Elena dropped without arguing, pulling the healer's low table over Renata's body like a shield, her own heart hammering loud enough to drown out everything except the sound of claws meeting claws somewhere close in the dark.
She couldn't see most of what happened next. She only heard it, a snarl cut shor
