The boy didn't wake up. Shadows dripped from his lips in a thin last sigh, and his chest trembled once before becoming motionless. The ensuing silence was so dense that it was difficult to breathe.
No wolf shifted to hide him. There was no word of prayer. All they could do was gaze at the body, as if it were a mirror reflecting all of their fears about me.
A low voice broke the stillness. “He died smiling.”
Another answered, harsher. “Smiling her name.”
The words sliced through me. My skin crawled, and for a moment I swore the boy’s dead eyes flicked toward me, though it was impossible. My shadows twitched like they recognized him even in death, and when Thorn stepped forward to drag me back, I felt it—a pull.
The floor beneath the corpse darkened, spreading outward like spilled ink,
