Rafe chuckled. “Touchy. But come on—you know it’s true. You feel them, don’t you? In your bones. That whisper that isn’t quite gone. They’re still out there, and they’re not finished with you.”
I forced my voice to stay steady. “If you think mentioning them is going to scare me, it won’t.”
“Maybe not.” He took a small step closer, enough that I could see the strange light in his eyes. “But it might scare someone else.”
I blinked. “What are you talking about?”
He smiled wider. “You’ll see. Soon.”
Then, before either of us could react, he melted back into the trees—fast, silent, like smoke in the wind.
“Asher—” I started, but he was already moving after him. We chased for a few minutes, but Rafe was gone. The forest swallowed every trace of him.
When we finally stopped, Asher’s hands
