Malrik POV

“You should have run for safety.”

The words echoed hollow because she could no longer hear them.

My aunt lay still pale, breath shallow. The bite on her shoulder was ugly and deep; silver still pulsed beneath the wound, slowing her blood and stunting the heal. She’d thrown herself between me and the jaws that wanted me. Now she paid the price.

I tore a strip from her ruined dress with hands that didn’t tremble, binding the wound as tightly as I could. It wouldn’t fix ...