I felt the music die around me before I fully registered I'd said anything out loud, Kael's arm tightening at the shift in my posture, everyone in the room turning at once toward whatever had crossed my face.
"What," Kael said, already reaching for his own phone.
"Thorne." I held mine out so he could read it himself. "Border watch. Northern treeline. Same signature as the clearing."
The easy warmth of the last three hours evaporated all at once, replaced by the particular focus I'd watched settle over this house before, the night the kitchen window shattered, the morning we drove north not knowing what we'd find. Cole was already moving toward the door, and Sera's face had gone pale in a way that made her look younger than I'd ever seen her.
"They're not testing anymore," I read aloud,
