Damien's POV
The lights of the eastern wing are just beginning to leak through the cover of pine needles by the time we reach the outer gate. Brie walks two steps behind me, she does not stumble, but I hear the hitch in her breath every time a dry branch snaps under her boots. Her silence is heavy, it’s the quiet of someone calculating how many ways tomorrow can break her, and its weight settles on my shoulders.
I reach out, slide the heavy iron latch of the north gate back into place, and push it open just enough for us to slip through the shadows of the wall.
’You both are careless,’ Voss rumbles low in the back of my mind. His eyes flash behind my thoughts. ’She smells like pine, fresh air and open rebellion. Anyone with a nose could trace us straight from the boulder circle.’
’No o
