The circle spat us out hard.
I hit my knees, palms scraped. Corren sagged against me, one arm like iron around my shoulders, the other clamped over his side. Faded rune-light still burned behind my eyes.
“Still with me?” Bryn crouched at the edge of the clearing, wary of the circle. “Because if I carried you both back, I’m charging extra.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, trying to stand. Corren tried too; his face went gray.
“Easy,” I snapped, hooking his arm over my shoulders. “You’re not impressing anyone.”
“You took most of it,” he rasped. “The circle just… finished the job on me.”
His pain slid through our bond, hot and jagged. My own nerves buzzed.
“Move,” Bryn said. “The whole forest felt that. By now every elder’s awake and clutching pearls.”
We staggered back to the den. Wolves spilled
