CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE MIND MAZE
(Solomon’s POV)
The forest didn’t welcome us.
It watched.
The First Step In
The moment we crossed the treeline, everything changed.
The air grew heavy—damp, suffocating, wrong.
No birds.
No wind.
Even the ground beneath our feet felt muted, as though the forest itself was swallowing every sound we made.
“Stay close,” I ordered quietly.
No one argued.
They felt it too.
That crawling sensation beneath the skin.
The instinct screaming:
This place isn’t natural.
The Pull
Mirabel stiffened beside me.
I felt it immediately through the bond.
A sharp pulse.
Then another.
“Talk to me,” I said softly.
Her gaze drifted forward, distant and unfocused.
“He’s here,” she whispered.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“I know.”
She shook her head fa
