Chapter 38
Seph
Where the hell was Ash?
He’d left me a little while ago to get food, and I’d been sitting alone by the fire, watching the flames dance like ancient spirits.
But now the spot beside me was still empty.
I stood, scanning the crowd.
Nothing.
No wild laugh. No splashes from the lake. No blur of blue aura.
A cold prickle ran up my spine.
Something was wrong.
Inside me, something stirred—like the monster I carried had sniffed out power in the woods. My breath hitched. I turned toward the tree line where the pull was strongest.
Two signatures shimmered in the dark.
One golden—bright, potent.
The other a swirling, flickering light-blue.
What the fuck?
I stepped away from the party, drifting into the shadows for a closer look.
Then I froze.
It wasn’t two people in there.
It was several.
My instincts screameddanger! Danger!
Fuck.
I spun to run—
—but a hand yanked my sweatshirt, jerking me backwards.
A gloved palm clamped over my mouth before I could scream.
Whispers hissed around me, frantic, familiar.
“Quickly! Before he wakes up. Tie them both up!”
Lyra.
I thrashed violently, kicking at whoever had me, adrenaline ripping through me.
“Stop her! Shut her up!”
A sharp blow slammed into the back of my head, making stars burst across my vision. I bit down on the hand covering my mouth hard enough to break fabric and skin.
