Page 189

From beside him, Seren watched his back straighten, the softness in his shoulders vanish.

A pause.

Then Hagan's voice, low and tight. "Tell me."

She could just barely hear the voice on the other end. Veyr.

"I've been trying through the tribelink," Veyr was saying, his tone clipped. "But we are not on the tribe land. The magic's too weak and you were too far away."

"What happened?" Hagan demanded, already pacing a short circle, hand on his forehead.

There was a pause on the line. Then: "Come home. We'll talk."

Seren stepped closer, concern pricking the edge of her heart. She didn't need to hear more to know something was very, very wrong.

Hagan ended the call and turned back to her. "I'll walk you home."

She didn't protest, though a sinking feeling twisted in her gut.

When they reached her doorstep, he gave her a faint smile. "Thank you... for today."

She nodded.

Then she watched him turn and walk away.

She waited a heartbeat. Then two.

And followed.

The apartment door was slightly ajar when she reached it. She slipped inside silently, the voices carrying from deeper in the flat. Her fingers hovered on the doorframe.

Veyr's voice was unmistakable, calm but urgent. "There were more bodies along the border. The same. Throats slit, disembowelled. No scent trail again. Highclaw Draken went to investigate."

A pause.

"There was an ambush," he said bluntly. "He's alive, but barely. Jorik too. The land's unrest is getting worse. We need to go home."

Seren's breath hitched.

She couldn't move.

Inside, Hagan's voice was quieter. Rougher. "Why didn't you tell me that in the first message?"

"You needed to hear it from me directly," Veyr replied. "And I couldn't reach you. Seren's phone has been off, too."

Veyr added softly, "You need to tell her."

"No." Hagan's answer came too fast. Too hard.

Veyr raised a brow. Hagan cursed under his breath. "She's happy here, Veyr. I can't... I can't drag her back into that. She bled to be free. How can I ask her to come back just to suffer again? She's only starting to smile again. Starting to live. I won't drag her back into this—to be used like some solution, some sacrifice."

Veyr's voice dropped. "She's not just anyone, Hagan. She's the Lunara. She's connected to the land. This is bigger than us."

Silence. Hagan's head was all over the place.

Veyr's expression darkened. "The land's failing faster than we thought. Crops are yellowing before harvest. Forest game has vanished. The rivers in the northern ridge are gone - just cracked beds now."

Hagan stilled.