The pendant burned hotter with every heartbeat, and Elena, cornered against a wall of dark pine with three hooded figures closing in, felt something inside her chest crack open the way a seed splits when it finally has no choice left but to grow.
"Stay back," she said, and her voice came out steadier than she expected, steadier than she felt, though the words did nothing to slow the men advancing on her.
The nearest one laughed, low and unimpressed. "Little reject wants to give orders now. Should have kept your head down and stayed married, sweetheart. Would have hurt a lot less than this is about to."
He lunged.
What happened next did not feel to Elena like something she chose so much as something she finally allowed. The pendant flared white hot against her collarbone, and the mark o
