They stopped at the cabin on the way home.
It wasn't planned — Lucas was navigating by instinct, following the most direct route south, and the path brought them past the northern clearing where Selena's cabin sat hidden behind its ancient wards. But when Arvella saw it — the small stone building cradled by oak trees, the single window catching the mid-morning light — she stopped walking, and the bond told Lucas everything he needed to know.
"Go," he said. "We'll wait."
"Come with me." She took his hand. "You should see it."
They entered together.
The cabin was exactly how they had left it — herbs on the shelf, crystals in the window, the cast iron pot on the cold hearth. But something had changed. The air was different. Thicker. Charged with an energy that made the hair on Arvella's
