“Harper,” he says, voice barely above a whisper, “be quiet.”
It isn’t a reprimand. It’s a warning. A plea. A protective instinct sharpened by fear.
I blink, taken aback by the urgency in his tone. “Liam-”
“No.” His hand closes around my elbow, not roughly, but firmly enough to pull me a fraction closer. His eyes dart across the street, scanning the vendors, the open shop doors, the clusters of spell-wearing locals. “Not here. Not in the open. You don’t know who’s listening.”
Trevor’s brows knit, head tilting slightly. “Listening? In Anvaris?”
“Yes,” Liam says through clenched teeth. “Especially in Anvaris. This town is a crossroads for every kind of witch and warlock imaginable. You speak the wrong name, the wrong creature, the wrong secret, someone will take note.”
My heart pounds harder. “But we haven’t said anything-”
“Harper,” Liam snaps softly, his voice controlled but tight, “you mentioned Windigo.”
Trevor’s lips press into a grim line. “He’s not wrong. Certain subjects attract the wrong attention, especially if someone paid for the attack.”
The words hit me harder than I expect, even though they echo the fear I’ve carried since the the wreck. Liam’s jaw clenches, muscles ticking with a tension born of both anger and worry.
He leans in so closely I can feel his breath warm against my ear.
“Do not mention them again,” he whispers. “Not until we’re back at Vireldan. Not unless Locke is present.”
The urgency in his voice rattles me more deeply than the memory of claws scraping along the carriage roof. My chest tightens. I nod slowly.
“All right,” I murmur.
Liam releases a breath he’d clearly been holding. He slides his hand away from my arm, though he remains close, closer than before, as if ready to intercept any threat that might slip out of a shadowed doorway.
Trevor walks a step quieter now, thoughtful, his head bowed as though memorizing every detail Liam just shared. The seriousness of it settles over him too; his usual soft composure darkens with contemplation.
Theo finally glances back at us from several paces ahead, his brow creasing as if listening for the change in our footsteps. “Is everything all right?”
Liam straightens instantly, voice smoothing intosomething reassuring. “Fine. Just wanted Harper closer in case the crowd thickens.”
Theo accepts this without protest, though the tilt of his head suggests he hears more than he lets on.
We resume walking, the noise of Anvaris swirling around us once more, but my ears ring with silence.
Because Liam’s warning wasn’t born of knowledge. It was born of fear.
7
HARPER
The deeper we walk into Anvaris, the more the town reveals its living pulse.
Morning light clings to the cobblestones, catching on the runed lanterns that hang from wrought iron brackets above the street.
The air is thick with enchantment, not the refined, formalized magic of Vireldan but something older... earthborn. Shopkeepers pull open wooden shutters with a practiced hand, revealing booths and windows full of shimmering tinctures, glimmering relics, steaming pastries, and rows of spell components stacked like precious metals.
It is a place that feels awake in a way the academy never quite manages, as though even the wind curling through the town carries whispers of spells murmured centuries ago.
Liam stays close to me, his steps steady, his glances sharp and frequent, protective in a way that tightens and warms something deep in my chest at the same time. Theo trails ahead with confident, measured waves of his wand, navigating the uneven stones with uncanny grace. Trevor walks slightly behind me, but his presence remains constant, as though he is trying to memorize every tremor in the air and every shift in my breathing. There is an awareness about him that borders on unnerving, yet never crosses into intrusion.
It is Liam who first notices the wand shop, a narrow building nestled between an apothecary whose windows glow like molten copper. A carved wooden sign swingsgently above the door despite the still morning air. The lettering is elegant but worn from time:
MERROW & WELT WANDWRIGHTS OF ANVARIS
