I ran.
Branches across my flank. Undergrowth rising before I registered it. Lungs already burning because panic breathing and running breathing are not the same thing and my body hadn't worked out which one it was doing.
Zreel was silent.
Like the monster with the two-colored eyes.
Then I noticed it wasn't behind me.
No pursuit. No sound. The forest at my back was exactly as still as when I'd left it.
I ran harder. Because something that chases you is terrifying. Something that watches you leave is worse.
It had let me go. It had chosen to.
The packhouse lights came through the trees and I burst into the yard and shifted without grace, two stumbling steps on packed earth before I found my footing.
Three guards had weapons up before I stopped moving.
"Where's Jack?"
"I don't — be
