The marshlands of Blackwater Hollow were unlike anything Selene had traversed. The trees loomed tall and skeletal, draped in moss that shimmered faintly under the pale glow of moonlight. Fog hugged the ground, swallowing footsteps and muffling voices. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth, decay, and magic.
“This place feels alive,” Kael muttered, hand hovering over the dagger strapped to his thigh.
“It is,” Nyra said from behind, her voice hushed. “Amara’s domain listens. It remembers.”
Selene led the group forward, her instincts heightened. Though they’d left Darius’s camp with an uneasy truce and his warriors pledged to their cause, she knew that each ally came with a price. And Amara of Blackwater was infamous for hers.
Ronan walked beside her, unusually quiet. His amber e
