I could see the smoke rising into the air before we reached the settlement that had been attacked. I’d thought they would just take us to a homestead, but this was once a small town. The skeleton of its streets sat in gray silence, smoke still rising from its smoldering roots.
To one side, I could see the bodies that had been pulled from the wreckage, most of them burned husks that could barely be recognized as something that was once living. People worked among the buildings, looking for the townspeople, but there was no longer a sense of urgency. They didn’t believe they would find survivors.
Brennan, though, wasn’t looking at the bodies. His eyes were locked on something else, and when I followed his gaze, I understood why there was fear in his gaze.
Claw marks marred one of the bui
