POV: Kael

I knew Darius would come when I finally stopped chasing him, I felt him before I saw him.

Not the usual static prickle of hostile magic, not the panic-response that ripples through the treeline when something violent crosses the boundary.

This is cleaner, sharper like a blade sliding into its sheath the wrong way.

I stop walking.

The night held its breath with me.

“You’re late,” I say into the dark, my voice steady even as my hand curls slowly into a fist.

A figure steps out ...