Every one of them.
Twobble made a choking sound in the back of his throat.
He stared at the shadow mark on my shoulder as if it had personally insulted him.
“Oh,” he said after a second, his voice a little thin. “Well, that feels… targeted.”
I was about to answer when the woods behind us exploded with noise.
Branches snapped, and leaves tore free of limbs as someone crashed through the undergrowth, swearing loudly enough to make the birds reconsider their life choices.
Skonk whipped around so fast he nearly lost his footing, broom already raised like he intended to challenge whatever came out of the trees to a duel.
“More things!” he shouted.
Twobble squinted toward the noise, clearly weighing his options.
“Let’s all hope,” he muttered, “that this batch of things is slightly friendlier than the last batch of things.”
The brush exploded outward.
Nova came first.
She tore through the undergrowth like a storm had decided to put on boots, raven hair flying behind her. Magic was already crackling along her fingers as she skidded into the clearing. She looked like a ball of electricity, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
“Maeve!”
Ardetia arrived a heartbeat later, moving with that smooth, unsettling grace the Fae never seemed to lose, even when running over uneven ground. Bella followed close after her, low and fast, eyes sharp as she scanned the clearing.
Stella burst through the trees a second later, breathing hard and gripping a cast-iron skillet like it was the only thing she’d had time to grab before running out the door.
Lady Limora came through the brush behind her, somehow still looking composed despite the sprint through the woods, her cloak settling around her as if she’d simply chosen to arrive this way.
Vivienne, Opal, and Mara followed close on her heels, their voices low as they worked quick spells under their breath.
The moment they stepped into the clearing, they all slowed.
Then they stopped.
Every gaze lifted toward the sky since the shadows had thickened while we’d been regrouping.
What had started as scattered shapes now churned above us in a dense, circling mass that blotted out the fading afternoon light.
They were being controlled.
Nova’s expression hardened immediately.
“Oh no.”
Ardetia’s voice was quieter, but sharper. “They’re hunting.”
Bella’s shoulders tensed when she saw my shoulder. “They’ll follow the mark.”
Stella blinked. “The what now?”
“Later,” Nova said, eyeing my shoulder before she noticed who was standing beside me.
Nova’s gaze snapped to Rendel.
