The road to the Apothecary wound through the older quarter of Darkhowl, where stone buildings leaned close together as if trading secrets and the air always smelled faintly of dried herbs and rain-soaked earth. Giselle walked beside Louis in silence at first, her cloak pulled snug around her shoulders despite the mild midnight air. The sky was scattered with bright, gleaming stars, streaked with bold silver and dark clouds, and lanterns were beginning to glow one by one along the street that had been long abandoned.
It was said that Darkhowl pack had to relinquish this part of their land when they were attacked my rogues. They weren’t defeated, but still, they never attempted to return to claim it back.
At least not all of them.
Louis glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “So,” he
