I needed to find Rowan’s tent.
I made my guess based on location, assuming that the tent in the center of the camp would be the commander’s. I prayed I was right.
I entered the central tent and immediately made a note of how spacious it was. It was slightly smaller than the tent that the culled shared, but it was considerably less cramped.
I saw Rowan spread out underneath a large fur blanket, with his head resting on a pillow. Rowan shifted out from underneath the blanket and stood.
I raised my gaze to his face—his bare, unmasked face—and my breath hitched.
It somehow felt indecent to glance at his face when it was so naked. It seemed too intimate, nothing I should have borne witness to—but I couldn’t look away.
The oil lamp flickered in the corner and shone brightly enough that I could take in his unrestricted features for the first time. He scratched the hair along his jaw and then brushed his brunette waves behind his ears.
My eyes trailed his sharp jaw, and then up over his high cheekbones until they locked with his. Rowan’s eyes were a striking light brown that complemented hisstrong, dark brow. I’d seen his eyes before through the narrow slits of the mask he wore, but seeing them unobstructed made my throat tighten.
“To what do I owe the intrusion at this hour?” Rowan rasped just as the other Veiler entered his tent.
“I apologize, sir, but she insisted. When I tried to redirect her back into her tent, she attacked me. I didn’t harm her—just as you requested—but she got past me.” The Veiler flustered, trying to pivot me toward the entrance.
I twisted out of his weak hold and turned back toward Rowan, who watched with one brow raised curiously.
“I must speak with you. It’s about the safety of the camp.” I struggled to get my words out as the Veiler began tugging me away again.
“Let her speak,” Rowan said with a wave of his hand, making the other Veiler halt his movement. “If it’s truly about the safety of our camp, then it’s imperative I’m made aware.”
I rolled my shoulders back and straightened my posture.
“Something or someone is coming, and there will be death,” I said.
Rowan huffed a laugh.
“That’s vague. You know this, how?”
“I saw it in my dream—”
“A dream?” Interrupted the Veiler. “You stormed into the commander’s tent in the middle of the night because of a nightmare?” He turned to Rowan. “I’m sorry for the intrusion, sir. I will escort her back—”
“It was a vision!” I barked out, pleading for them to hear me.
If they didn’t listen, then we would all be dead.
“Why should I believe you?” Rowan said as he walked toward me. My body tensed as he drew closer.
“I’ve had them before. I know what they are.”
“I understand that’s whatyoubelieve, but I asked whyIshould believe you?”
“Because I have nothing to gain from lying to you.”
We stared at each other briefly, but in those few moments, I felt like the air had been sucked out of me. Every muscle went stiff, and my hands clenched the hem of my tunic.
“Lorena!” Rowan yelled out. A few moments later, a tall, stocky woman with short brown hair entered the tent. “Send our scouts out.”
“Yes, sir,” she said and swiftly departed.
“Get her back to her tent,” Rowan commanded.
“Will do, sir.”
