The town did not chase them.
That was the first sign something had gone terribly wrong.
Lena and Eli fled through the forest beyond the square, branches tearing at their clothes, roots rising like grasping fingers beneath their feet. Lena expected pursuit—horns, howls, the thunder of boots and weapons. She expected violence.
Instead, there was only silence.
Not peace.
Anticipation.
They stopped near the old quarry, breath ragged, the moonlight fractured by skeletal trees. Eli leaned heavily against a stone wall, blood darkening his sleeve where the spell had struck him. Lena turned to him instantly, hands hovering, afraid to touch and afraid not to.
“You’re hurt,” she said, voice breaking.
“I’ve been worse,” he lied.
She pressed her palm to his chest. His heartbeat was fast—too fa
