Chloe’s pov
Night fell over the Dead Pines Valley, turning the heavy canvas walls of Fernando’s command tent into a dark, suffocating trap.
The rain had stopped, but the bitter cold seeped up through the dirt floorboards, chilling me to the bone. The single iron brazier near the strategy table flickered weakly, casting long, twisted shadows across the room.
The canvas flap pushed open, and Fernando stepped inside.
He had removed his fur mantle. His chest was bare beneath dark leather straps, exposing the black, oozing lines of dead flesh creeping up toward his sternum. The foul, sulfurous stench of Shaun’s silver poison hit my nose, so strong it made my stomach churn with immediate nausea.
He locked the heavy iron latch on the tent post, then turned to face me.
I stood near the centr
