I bring the SUV to a stop.
“We go on foot.”
No one argues.
Doors open. Quiet. Controlled.
The second my boots hit the ground, I feel it.
Wrong.
The air is colder. Damp. The faint rush of the river somewhere ahead.
Everything else?
Too quiet.
Tessa steps up beside me.
I take her hand without thinking. Firm. Grounding.
“You good?” I ask low.
“Yeah.”
She squeezes once.
I don’t let go.
We move.
Trigger left. Beast right. Blaze just behind, tracking.
Tessa stays at my side.
Exactly where she’s staying.
The ground dips as we move deeper into the trees. The smell hits next—water, rot, old wood.
“There,” Blaze whispers.
I follow his line of sight.
A structure takes shape through the trees. Half-collapsed. Old.
Dead space.
Perfect for hiding.
Or watching.
“Perimeter,” I murmur.
Trigger and Beast peel off without a sound.
I pull Tessa in tighter.
“Stay on me.”
