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The river surged again.

“Shit!” Kato fell.

Skye lunged, snagging the back of his coat. The added weight wrenched at his shoulder. His grip faltered. For a terrifying heartbeat, his fingers slid through the mud.

Then, Taly was there—awake. She grabbed his collar and yanked him over. Skye twisted, hauling Kato up with him.

Kato collapsed immediately. Skye staggered a few more steps up the riverbank—then dropped.

Everything unraveled. That raw, volatile power ripped away, leaving him hollow.

Muscles shrank. Strength drained. Claws dulled, shrinking back into fingers. Power slipped through his grasp faster than he could hold onto it.

Tremors wracked him, slow to fade. He felt wrung out. The adrenaline had burned off, and what was left was raw and aching. There’d be a price for what he’d done. There always was. But right now, he didn’t care.

They were alive—mud-caked, breathless, battered. Butalive.

Skye forced himself up. His legs trembled, his head spun, but he stayed upright. Taly stood on the river’s edge, wind whipping through her hair. He came to stand beside her, and they surveyed the wreckage.

The bridge had crumpled, momentum and force shearing the rest of the beams. It almost seemed knocked over. The river churned through the remains. Trees along the bank leaned dangerously, their roots unearthed by the shifting current. The air hung thick with damp earth and upturned sediment, mixing with the charred scent of ruined aether wards.

“We’ve got company.” Taly pointed to the opposite bank.

They emerged through the fog, a grotesque tableau of decayed flesh and hollow stares. Dead men and women, pallid and mottled, materialized from the trees, gathering along the far bank.

They stood motionless, as if waiting.

“That’s creepy,” Kato muttered.

Then they moved—as one.

“That’s creepier,” Skye whispered.

The mass parted, and a lone figure stepped forward. He moved with measured ease, his fine cloak obscuring his face.

Over the crash of the river, a voice rang out.

“I get it. I may have come in a bit light on the offer. Just part of the game, you know?”

Skye’s jaw clenched. “Who is that?”

“That,” Taly rasped, “is the man invading our island.”

Skye felt his pulse spike. “How do you know that?”

She swallowed, still too pale in the moonlight. “Because I met him.”

Skye went cold. Then hot as the realization settled.

The Veil tears, the spiders, the hours spent clawing their way back—it was a distraction. None of it was chance. While they’d been lost in the Shards-damn woods, the enemy had made his move.

And she’d faced him. Alone.

The rage curled slow and sharp in his chest, simmering beneath the exhaustion.

“Look,” the man called, voice smooth as ever. “If it’s the killing that’s the problem, I can stop. I swear it—I’ll stop. Just... think it over, alright?”

“What is he talking about?” Kato asked.