CHAPTER 13
I repeated that to myself as we walked through the woods, the words looping in my mind over and over again like a fragile shield against everything I didn’t want to feel. It could have been much worse. The thought didn’t comfort me the way I wanted it to. Instead, it sat heavy in my chest, hollow and uncertain, but I clung to it anyway because it was the only thing I had. The forest had gone quiet around us, the chaos of the hunt now reduced to a distant memory. Leaves crunched softly beneath our feet, and the wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it the fading scent of blood and fear. Dawn was beginning to stretch across the sky, pale light filtering through the branches and casting long, uneven shadows that seemed to follow us wherever we went.
Eventually, Elija
