They didn’t stop running until the forest thinned and the land dipped into the ravine beyond the old boundary stones.
Those stones mattered.
Lena felt it the moment they crossed—an invisible pressure lifting from her chest, like stepping out of a held breath. The magic woven into the town did not follow easily here. Whatever laws the Order had carved into the soil weakened beyond this point.
Eli collapsed first, dropping to one knee, breath ragged. Lena turned instantly, gripping his shoulders.
“You’re bleeding again,” she said.
“I know,” he replied, voice rough. “I don’t care.”
She pressed her hands to his side. The warmth in her palms deepened—not burning, not wild—but purposeful. Eli stiffened as the pain dulled, the bleeding slowed.
He stared at her. “You’re doing that.”
Lena s
