The cavern swallowed every sound I made. My boots scraped against the rock as I backed away from the shattered remains of the stone wolf, breath tearing in and out of my chest. The dust still floated in the air, glittering faintly in the little light the mark shed. My pulse shook my whole body.
Something else moved behind the darkness.
Slow steps. Heavy. Too heavy to be human. Too alive to be stone.
My fingers curled against the wall behind me. The rock was cold, dry, rough against my skin. My throat tightened. I tried to steady my breathing, but fear clawed its way up my ribs.
Another low growl rolled through the cavern.
“Please,” I whispered to the dark. “Please do not be another one.”
A shadow shifted to my right.
Then another to my left.
Cold washed down my spine. The mark puls
