(Aria's POV )
The forest didn’t trust the quiet.
Neither did Kael.
He held me like I was both an anchor and a live wire, something that could steady him, or burn us both down. The wolves stood in a loose perimeter around us, ears pricked, every muscle taut. Even with the sun bleeding pale gold through the branches, no one lowered their guard.
The air still smelled faintly of scorched magic. Of things that weren’t supposed to exist outside the old stories.
Lyra pushed herself to her feet first. She was trembling, but there was a set to her jaw that said she’d walk through fire if she had to. Her runes had faded back to faint silver scars along her forearms, like quiet echoes.
“We need to move,” she said. “That was just the first wave.”
Kael’s grip on me tightened. “First?”
Lyra’s g
