Aurora didn’t like it, but she nodded once.
I gave Kendrick a single look of gratitude. He knew us too well.
Knew that if Kat was in chains—or worse—I couldn’t promise I’d think straight. And Keegan will loose himself in bloodlust.
I turned and nodded to the two wolves behind me. Darian and Gunter. My best friends.
“Let’s move,” I muttered.
And then we walked into hell.
The path toward the west wing wasn’t a path at all. It was a snarl of twisted roots and bone-dry vines, coiled tight like veins beneath a rotting skin. Every step we took cracked the ground like old joints. There were no birds. No wind. The very air felt like it had been drained from the space—stolen by whatever dark force had laid claim to this land.
The roots moved.
Subtle at first.
A twitch.
A curl.
A shift t
