The rumble beneath my feet intensified, the ash-filled silence becoming a low growl that made me want to grit my teeth. Dust fell from the jagged rocks surrounding us.
Arabella tilted her head, that faint, maddening smile pulling at her lips. “Seems the world itself is impatient for your answer, Vivian.”
Her words cut, but the sound beneath us cut deeper. This was more than just the aftermath of the fire. Something was moving. Rising.
“Both of you, quiet,” Wren snapped, more steel than I’d ever heard in his voice. He laid a palm on the earth, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again there was a flicker of alarm—briefly extinguished, but I saw it.
“What is it?” I asked the question.
He didn’t answer immediately. That hesitation chilled me more than anything.
Arabella, of course,
