LYRA

The corruption smiled.

I couldn't explain how I knew.

There was no face.

No voice.

No words whispering through the bond.

Just certainty.

The same certainty that tells a wolf when something is hunting them from the darkness.

The same certainty that warns prey a predator is near.

Something inside the corruption had recognized that vision.

And it was pleased.

My stomach twisted.

Lucian's arm remained firmly around my waist as the room settled back into uneasy silence.

No one spoke.

No one ...