Ember Frost’s POV

That was how we were supposed to reach them before it was too late.

The mark we bear wasn’t just for tracking. It had a crude messaging feature too. If it came into contact with blood, it would light up, sending out a signal that anyone nearby could detect.

At first, I thought the cave had changed. Maybe we’d crossed some invisible threshold, some kind of boundary. The tunnel felt longer, far longer than before. I’d already spent hours mapping this place earlier, ...