Nox’s grin deepens, but it isn’t smug; it’s something darker, softer. He leans in, brushing his lips against the curve of my neck, slow enough to feel my pulse jump.
"Lucky for you," he kisses me, "I don't take that easily."
Then he presses his chest closer, his coat wrapping around both of us like a shield against the cold. Nox stops.
"We’re being watched," he says quietly, his voice low enough only for me to hear. His fingers curl tighter around the wornhandle of the ax. "Stay back," he snaps, voice low and edged with something feral. "Stay with Zeke and Zilla."
I freeze, startled—not by his words, but by the way he says them. It seems like it hurts him to push me away, like he doesn’t want to, but has to. Nox turns to face me, eyes burning like coals beneath frost. "Whatever is out there isn’t just watching anymore. It’s hunting. And I won’t have you in its sights."
I open my mouth to argue, but he steps closer, towering over me, his voice a growl.
"I need you safe. Just this once… do what I say!"
Then he turns, his coat flaring behind him like wings of smoke, vanishing into the trees without another word.
The forest swallows him whole, and I run to Zilla and Zeke.
Chapter 23
NOX
Neo stands in the snow frozen, her breath shallow and her heart pounding—not from fear, but because of the way I looked at her. Not with my usual smirk, and when I told her to stay behind, it wasn’t a command—it was a shield.
The cold bites at her cheeks, but she barely feels it. Her eyes stay locked on the spot I disappeared into the trees, swallowed by shadow and silence.
Zeke and Zilla are standing tense and alert behind her. Zilla whispers a protective ward under her breath. Zeke scans the surroundings like a hawk; he already knows he has to protect them while I hunt.
I know Neo wanted to follow me, but she doesn’t move. I know that every instinct screams at her to come after me, to be at my side, to face whatever draws this kind of anger from me. Still she stays; she stays because I asked her… because I’ve never asked for anything like this before.
"I don’t like this," Zilla mutters.
"Neither do I, but if Nox is angry, it means someone made a really bad mistake," Zeke says, trying to comfort her.
I move like a shadow, each step silent, the snow swallowing the tracks behind me. It feels like the forest is leaning in, as if it is listening. My breath curls in the cold air, but my eyes stay sharp, scanning the dark and reading the silence. The presence Ifeel isn’t just watching—it’s circling and testing me. Then I see it, a clearing. The snow is disturbed with drag marks and faint footprints, as if something heavy has been pulled across the frost. In the center stands a crooked tree, its bark split like a wound and beneath it... lies a body.
The blood is still warm, seeping into the snow and refusing to freeze. His eyes are shut, his mouth parted as though death had caught him mid-scream. I kneel beside him, my fingertips grazing the coarse fabric of his coat—no weapon, no name… only terror etched upon his face like a mask carved by fear itself.
I rise slowly, my breath clouding in the cold, and my gaze narrows. Then… a sound. Not words, but the hush of a breath, a whisper carried in the wind. I turn, the ax poised, my coat unfurling behind me like dark wings. Yet the forest stands silent, only trees and endless white.
Still, I feel it. Something lingers here, ancient and cunning, watching me. My jaw tightens. I cannot let it find Neo, nor the others. With a surge of resolve, I break through the tree line, snow scattering at my heels, running towards where I left them—towards the fragile hope that still waits in the storm.
"You’re leaving," I say, Neo running and wrapping her arms around me.
"What did you find?"
"A body," I growl. "Fresh, torn open and left like bait."
Zeke’s smirk vanishes. "So it’s not just watching anymore."
"No," I say, my arm resting around Neo’s shoulders. "It’s playing."
Neo’s eyes are burning. "You’re not staying here."
"Baby, I’m not asking." I kiss her forehead and I reach out, using my thumb to touch her cheek while looking at Zeke. "Go back to the city, and keep them safe!"
Neo hesitates, but Zeke grabs her arm. "We’ll wait at the edge of the forest. If you’re not back by dawn, I’m coming with fire."
Chapter 24
