Raven's Hollow turned out to be exactly as ominous as its name suggested—a circular clearing deep in the forest where no grass grew and the trees leaned away from the center as if afraid to get too close. Ancient standing stones formed a perfect circle around a natural spring that reflected the moonlight like liquid silver.
"This place gives me the creeps," I muttered, stepping carefully over symbols carved into the earth. They seemed to shift and writhe in my peripheral vision.
"It should," said a voice from the shadows. "Fear keeps the unworthy away."
We all spun toward the sound, Dante immediately positioning himself between me and the darkness. But the figure that emerged from behind the largest standing stone was not what any of us expected.
She was ancient—not just old, but ancie
