A heartbeat later, Agnes gasps again, eyes wide and alight.
“Mum.” Sam strokes her cheek. “You’re okay?”
Agnes remains silent, but her face softens, her hand drawing soft circles over her chest. Sorin’s shoulders remain tense, his face focused on his mother, but a shift in the air has my attention drawing to the wolves.
All six of them have their haunches raised, low growls pulsing from their throats.
Another clap of thunder booms in the distance.
“We need to go.” I squeeze Sorin’s shoulders but he doesn’t move. “We can’t delay our trip to the Onyx Guild any longer.”
No one moves.
“Sorin…” I squeeze his shoulders again.
“Elora is right,” Evren says to Sam and Tallulah. “We’ll help Agnes inside to wait while you ready the caravans.”
Sorin stands on shaky legs, and Sam does as well. She joins Letty and Eviey to make the final preparations for our departure.
“What is it that they sense?” Evren nods to the wolves. He lifts Agnes slowly, Jarek holding onto her arms. Sorin reaches for her, but she swats him away.
“I’m fine,” she whispers, but the color in her face drops, and I don’t miss the wince as she takes a slow step forward.
I glance back to the wolves and reach out to them again, but none of them respond, their gazes fixed on the woods that line the Jade Guild.
“I’m not sure what they sense,” I admit. “But whatever it is, we need to prepare ourselves.”
“This morning on my walk I felt like I was being watched,” Sorin says.
I spin to face him.
“And you didn’t think to tell anyone?” Evren asks, a bite in his tone that doesn’t go unnoticed. Sorin and Evren face each other, deep lines forming between their brows.
“It could be anyone,” Tallulah says. “It could also be no one. Storms have a tendency to bring new life to the forest, perhaps the wolves only sense that change?”
A swift breeze rustles the flowers in my hair, sending a chill over my exposed back. “We’ll discuss this inside.” I turn for the Jade Guild, not bothering to check if anyone’s followed.
I know what I have to do.
Despite all ofus being huddled in the meeting room, it’s quiet. Not a pin drop, not a gust of wind through the cracks. Unusually, painfully quiet as if the storm has melted away. My stomach churns as I reach out to the wolves.
What do you see?
There is someone approaching,Alaric says.
How many?
Can’t tell.
Keep yourselves hidden for now.
“The wolves sense someone approaching the keep,” I tell the group.
Their eyes all land on me at once, sending a fit of doubt straight to my stomach. I clench my fists at my sides and try to remember that I am among friends.
Galen was your friend.
“The caravan is ready,” I say, cutting off the voices in my head. “You must hurry, we can no longer wait for nightfall.”
