Keegan nodded immediately, shifting his stance to mirror mine, grounding without taking over.
Caleb gave a sharp hand signal, and the shifters fanned wider, making our presence visible but not aggressive.
The vampires behind us flowed into stillness, their movements elegant and controlled, their faces calm even as their eyes tracked the orc tide below.
Nova’s fingers tightened on her staff.
“Maeve,” she murmured, voice barely audible. “Something’s off.”
I followed her gaze.
The orcs weren’t just marching.
They were tense.
I didn’t see chaos or panic. But I saw them bracing, heads turning often, shoulders hunching, hands tightening on weapons as if they expected something.
As if they were already afraid.
And then the sky moved.
A shape dropped from above, fast and dark, cutting through the thin light like a thrown blade. Another followed and another.
My stomach dropped as the first one struck the ground in the valley, not far ahead of the orc line. It wasn’t a bird. It wasn’t a bat. It was something too large, too wrong, its body a slick tangle of shadow and bone, wings snapping open with a wet, leathery sound.
The orcs halted.
A roar rose through the mass. It wasn’t a battle cry, but a startled, furious sound, and orcs lifted their weapons as the shadow creature unfurled itself taller. Its head twisted as if sniffing the air.
But it turned, too quickly and too deliberately, as if asking us where to go.
My blood went cold.
“No,” I breathed.
Another shadow beast followed, then two more.
As if the real goal was elsewhere.
As if the real goal was to make sure the orcs sawusas the threat.
“She’s staging it,” Nova said, her voice sharp with realization. “She’s making it look like we’re attacking.”
Stella let out a low curse that sounded older than language. “That manipulative—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” Twobble cut in, eyes wide, then added as if offended, “I was going to.”
Skonk’s hand went to the hilt of a blade I hadn’t even realized he carried.
Caleb’s posture went rigid, his jaw tightening. “If the orcs think we sent those—”
“They’ll strike first,” Keegan finished grimly.
My birthmark burned again, hot and insistent, and for a heartbeat I felt like I could hear her—not in words, but in intention.
See how quickly trust turns.
I forced myself to move.
