SCARLETT
The violet flash on the horizon bled across the night like a wound.
For a long moment, none of us spoke. Only the soft hiss of settling stone and the faraway echo of the sealed Rift filled the cavern.
Kael’s hand tightened on my shoulder. His fire-scarred skin was still warm despite the chill. “That wasn’t a reflection,” he said, voice low. “Another tear.”
Darius’s storm-gray eyes narrowed, lightning flickering faintly across his irises. “I feel it too. Different direction east of the Ashen Peaks.”
Lucien tilted his head, shadows curling lazily at his boots, but there was nothing lazy in his voice. “The Rift sleeps here. Something or someone has opened a new one.”
The Moonbane mark on my skin pulsed a steady silver throb, each beat matching the distant flash. I swallowed har
