She backed toward the cottage, her eyes fixed on the trees. Every shadow looked like a figure. Every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps.
Inside, she locked the door and leaned against it, breathing hard.
What was that?
The intent in the soil. The sense of being watched. The way both feelings had arrived at the same time, overlapping and intertwining until she couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
Her hands were shaking. She stared at them, at the dirt still clinging to her fingertips, and tried to make sense of what she'd felt.
Corin had said someone broke the well seal deliberately. That the contamination was intentional, not accidental. What if whoever did it had left more than just poison behind? What if they'd left something of themselves, some trace of magic or will that lingered in the earth?
And what if they knew she could sense it?
The thought made her stomach turn.
She forced herself away from the door and moved through the cottage, checking windows, pulling curtains closed. The feeling of being watched faded as she sealed herself inside, but it didn't disappear entirely. It lurked at the edges of her awareness, a low hum of wrongness she couldn't quite shake.
Her phone buzzed on the kitchen table. She jumped, then felt foolish as she picked it up.
Wendy.
She answered, grateful for the distraction. "Hey."
"You sound tense." Her sister's voice crackled through the speaker, distant as always. "What's happening?"
"Nothing. Just a long day."
"Liar."
Chloe laughed despite herself. "I felt something in the soil tonight. Something that wasn't supposed to be there. Intent, I think. Like someone left a piece of themselves behind."
“That's significant."
"What does it mean?"
"It means your gift is waking up. The land is trying to tell you something."
"That's not helpful."
"It's not supposed to be helpful. It's supposed to make you pay attention." Wendy's voice softened slightly. "You're connected to that place, Chloe. More than you realize. Trust what you feel, even when you can't explain it."
"Everyone here thinks I'm poisoning the land."
"Are you?"
"No."
"Then they're wrong." Simple. Certain. "Stop worrying about what they think and focus on what you know."
Chloe sank onto the couch, exhaustion settling into her bones. "There's someone here. A man. He's been defending me. Helping me figure out what's happening."
"The bear."
"How did you..."
"I know things." Wendy's tone was unreadable. "Be careful with him."
"Why?"
