Whatever’s coming, we’ll face it together.Even if she doesn’t believe that yet.
Chapter Seven
Trinity
The ghosts come at dusk.
They don’t ease in the way they usually do, drifting at the edges of my awareness like reluctant memories.They rush me all at once, a tide of voices and half-formed shapes that slam into my senses so hard I have to grab the porch railing to stay upright.
Pain flashes behind my eyes.
“They’re moving,”someone shouts.
“Too soon,”another cries.
“You have to listen...”
“Stop,” I hiss under my breath, heart hammering.“Stop.One at a time.”
It takes a moment, but they obey.They always do, eventually.The dead don’t respect much, but they respect being heard.I draw in a shaky breath and focus, narrowing the noise into something I can handle.Around me, the Katu compound hums with early morning life, wolves returning from patrol, the scent of food thickening the air, the crackle of the central fire being coaxed to life.
Normal and safe.A lie I desperately want to believe.
The first ghost to step forward is a woman with dark hair and a shattered ribcage, her form flickering like a bad reflection.I recognize her immediately.She’s been with me on and off since my banishment, appearing whenever the Hunters get too close to me or the surrounding wolf territory.
She died screaming.
“They’re setting a trap,”she says without preamble.“Not a hunt.A slaughter.”
My fingers tighten on the railing.“Where?”
“South, near the old quarry,”several voices answer at once.
I swallow.“How far away is that?”
“Far enough to draw them out.Close enough to strike fast.”
