The heartbeat did not stop. It simply faded into the stone like something had sunk back into slumber. But even after the sound disappeared, the echo stayed. It crawled under my skin like leftover static after touching something electric.
I rubbed my wrist, trying to clear the sensation, but the mark kept pulsing. Quiet. Slow. Almost curious. Like it was waiting for an answer I had not given.
“Everyone alright,” Felix muttered.
“No,” I said. “But I am pretending very hard.”
Nathan squeezed my hand before stepping ahead to check the floor. I watched the tension in his shoulders. His wolf was pacing again. That was never good.
Then the runes beneath us flickered.
One pulse.
Two.
The symbols scattered across the rock slid apart like pieces of a puzzle being pulled in opposite direction
