The desert didn’t welcome travelers.
It swallowed them.
The sands stretched endlessly, pale and hot like a sea of fire. Ivy’s boots crunched over cracked stones and the skeletons of ancient trees. Beside her, Kael moved like a silent sentinel, his expression tight with worry.
They had left the safety of the pack lands three days ago—no wolves, no guards, no witches. Only a compass carved from obsidian and the whispers of a dying seer.
“In the desert where oaths are broken, you will find the soul-splitter. But beware—the price is blood.”
Ivy hadn’t told Kael everything.
Not the dreams. Not the voice.
Not the shadowed figure that now lingered in every reflection she caught of herself.
He didn’t need to know that the Bone King had kissed her in her dreams. Or that part of her liked it
