The forest was silent. A dense, dangerous kind of silence, like the one that comes before a storm.
I moved through the trees with calculated steps, making sure not to step on any loose branches, not to make the slightest sound. The moon filtered through the foliage in weak flashes of light, casting long, unpredictable shadows on the damp ground. There was no movement around me. No sign that the rogues were near. But I knew they were there. Hidden. Watching. Lurking.
They couldn’t see me.
They mustn’t see me.
I took a slow breath, letting my body adjust to the darkness, to the tension. This wasn’t the first time I had infiltrated enemy territory. I knew how to move, how to hide. But this time… this time, I wasn’t hunting just any rogue.
This time, I was looking for her.
Elise.
I didn
