The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of crimson and violet. Black Hollow had always carried a stillness at dusk, a hush before the nocturnal world awakened, but tonight, the air thrummed with a tension that made Elena’s skin prickle. The truce line pulsed faintly beneath her feet, invisible to the eye but tangible in every nerve. She had walked it during the day, testing the boundaries her grandmother’s journal had hinted at. Now, the forest seemed to lean toward her, eager, restless, almost predatory.
Rowan waited at the edge of the property, his golden eyes catching the last light, muscles coiled as though ready to spring. Lucien appeared moments later, stepping from the shadows, his presence dark, elegant, and commanding, like a storm contained in human form. B
