Allison
"Wrong night," I say. "Wrong pack. Wrong line."
His ears flatten. He glances at the pylon as if he can read wards. He can't. His gaze slides back to my tails and stays there.
"Tell Narine the creek won't carry her message," I say. "Tell her to pick a different river." He snarls and the sound is designed to shake people who don't belong to themselves yet. It doesn't shift the ground under my feet.
"Push and you'll leave something behind," I add. "I don't want to write that report. Don't make me." For a second, the world narrows. He sets his feet like he wants the first move to be his. The ward ripple evens a hair, then shivers again, like something farther downline is tapping it with a fingernail.
Fallon's voice is soft. "Ops says node 12c is clean. Error central to
