The moon was high when Aria reached the training grounds, her boots hitting the earth with purpose. Kade walked beside her, keeping pace, though he hadn’t spoken since they left the Veil Gate. He was too tense. And Aria understood. She felt it too—an urgency in her blood, a pulse that didn’t belong entirely to her.
The path to the eastern woods was quiet. Too quiet.
Talia’s scent had vanished at the edge of the barracks—where it turned toward the wards—and simply stopped. Not faded. Stopped.
That was impossible.
Unless she’d been taken.
Or… unless she knew how to vanish.
“We're dealing with someone trained,” Kade muttered. “Talia’s no novice. She's hiding, not lost.”
“Or she’s gone to meet someone,” Aria replied, her voice clipped.
He looked at her. “You think it’s the figure from
