The first thing I noticed when I woke that afternoon was the quiet.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that sits in a room like a held breath.
The clinic chamber had grown familiar to me over the past few days. The scent of herbs hung thick in the air, mixed with the faint iron smell of blood that healers never quite managed to wash away. My body still ached in ways that reminded me of every moment the beast’s claws had torn into my flesh, but the fog that had clouded my mind since that battle was beginning to lift.
Which meant something dangerous.
Because the clearer my mind became, the clearer the trap around me appeared.
A soft rustling sound broke the silence, and my eyes shifted toward the doorway just as Aisha slipped inside.
Her movements were careful, almost cautious. She close
