Ava’s POV
The wind rustled through the trees, whispering mysteries I couldn’t quite fathom. The fire crackled low, throwing an eerie glow across the clearing where we had made camp. Every shadow looked alive, every sound intensified by the suffocating blackness surrounding us. My gaze kept drifting back to Seraph, our enigmatic visitor with silver eyes that reflected the flames like molten metal. Her words had been circling my mind since she delivered them, weighted with ramifications I wasn’t ready to embrace.
“I know who the traitor is.”
The weight of her disclosure pressed down on me, and I battled to regain my breath. Trust was already a weak thread among us, strained by Kieran’s warning and the innumerable close calls we’d barely survived. Now it felt like it might snap totally.
“
