Rynna smiled, eyes on the stairs leading to her room. The man was a letch, but he was good with kids.
“Thank you.” The words came thin and sure as Rynna passed. And a small, trembling hand lifted to her arm, stopping Rynna in her tracks.
She blinked. “Uhh…” The sound escaped before she could stop it. Words weren’t her strong suit, at least not for things like this. “Sure thing, kid.”
Her hand hovered awkwardly before landing on the girl’s head in an uncertain pat. She gave two quick taps—like knocking on wood—then turned away before the moment stretched too long.
Climbing the stairs, she bit down on the smile threatening to pull at her mouth. It felt foolish. Out of place. But it wouldn’t go.
The girl would make it. So would that woman.
I did that. Didn’t I?
As they gathered beyond the village’s edge, Rynna sat astride Empty Night, the mare pawing at the dirt with restless hooves. Dust curled with each impatient scuff, rising in lazy spirals toward the setting sun. The others clustered nearby, voices pitched low, worry bleeding between their words.
“Where should we go?”
“How will Joshua find us?”
“Should we camp nearby?”
Their eyes drifted to her, waiting. Expectant.
Do they want me to tell them what comes next?She nearly choked on the idea.Surely not.
She coughed, feeling their stares settle on her.
“All right.” She chewed her lower lip, then looked ahead. “If you don't object, we should keep moving. Up the road to the next town. Joshua will find us there. We just have to trust him.”
And one by one, their postures eased. Shoulders straightened. Worry thinned. And the flicker of hope returned, soft but stubborn behind their eyes.
“Rynna’s right,” Malachi added, giving Adam’s arm a companionable shake. “Joshua will find us.”
“Yes.” Adam exhaled, hands tightening on his reins. “He would never leave me for long.” Then, already guiding his horse past Rynna, he called to the others. “Let’s go!”
Malachi gave her a lopsided smile and lifted his fist, waiting. Rynna leaned in, the leather of her reins creaking under her hand as she met his knuckles with a solid knock.
“Yeah,” she said, quieter, but certain. “Let’s go.”
With a soft press of her heel, Empty Night stepped forward, hooves carrying her toward whatever waited ahead.
Yet beneath her skin, beneath the earth itself, something had changed. She felt it—subtle, deliberate—as if unseen threads now drew tight, threading bone to bone, tethering her to something watching. Waiting.
Her teeth met. She kept riding.
Two Years Later
They killed him.
The words burned like acid, churning in her mouth, ripping through the hollow left in her chest.
They killed him. How could they kill him?
Empty Night’s hooves thundered beneath her, each stride a hammer blow against the broken earth as they tore through the desert under a sky split wide with stars. Wind peeled tears from the corners of her eyes.
Her fingers fisted tighter in the reins until they snapped beneath her claws. She hadn’t even noticed when her nails turned to razors. Or when the Hunger began to gnaw again, skating hot and thick through her thoughts.
You don’t have to be the monster they’ll try to make you.His last words rang through her mind once more.
