Chapter 18: The Vampire’s Call
The forest at night was alive with whispers. Leaves rattled with the cool sweep of the wind, owls hooted in the distance, and somewhere beyond the tree line, wolves howled to the moon in their haunting chorus. Seren shivered beneath her cloak, though it wasn’t only from the chill. Something else clung to the air tonight—a heaviness she couldn’t name, an invisible thread tugging at her chest as though calling her into the shadows.
Kaelen noticed first. His senses were sharper than any blade, honed by years of war and leadership. They were traveling back from the edge of the northern woods, where he had taken her to practice running trails in silence. Her legs ached, her lungs burned, but she hadn’t once complained. He’d even given her a look—an almost grudgi
