Chapter 24. Teeth in the Dark

The attack came without warning or herald.

One moment Hollowridge slept beneath a sky choked with ash and dimmed stars. The next, the southern watchtower erupted in flame, and the night shattered as if struck by a hammer. Fire clawed its way up the stone. Shadows screamed as they twisted across the walls. Wolves woke to the scent of smoke—and to something fouler beneath it, something that scraped instinct raw.

Seraya woke to the smell of blood.

Not hers. Not yet.

The air in her chamber was thick and metallic, heavy enough to taste. She was upright in an instant, blades already in her hands before she fully drew breath. Her heartbeat was not frantic. It was steady. Prepared. The mark on her chest throbbed once, then again, a deep, answering pulse, as if it recognized the thre