Ruby's POV
We didn’t move for a long time after Evie left.
The woods swallowed her up the way they always do,like nothing had passed through them at all. No footprints. No warning. Just silence.
Carter stood there, arms crossed, eyes still locked in the direction she’d disappeared. His whole body was taut, like he was holding something back,rage, maybe. Or fear. Or both.
Me?
I just felt numb.
Like her words hadn’t sunk all the way in yet. Like if I stayed still long enough, I could stop time before the weight of it crushed me.
“She was right,” I said finally, my voice sounding too quiet for the space around us. “He’s not just coming for us. He’s trying to rewrite everything.”
Carter didn’t answer right away. He just exhaled through his nose, jaw tight.
“He’s building a story,” he
