The bedroom was quiet now. Emma had stopped moving, though Zach suspected she wasn't sleeping any more than he was.
He’d guard the cottage until dawn. In the morning, Emma would make her choice—stay or go, trust or retreat.
Whatever she decided, he’d protect her. Because all his instincts said the assassin—and Marcus—wasn't finished.
Chapter 28
Subtle Vibration
Emma couldn’t stayin the cottage another minute.
Not because she was angry—though part of her still simmered with the shock of Zach's revelation. Not because she was running—though her legs ached to move, to put distance between herself and the weight of his confession. She needed space. Room to think without the walls pressing in, without his presence filling every corner, making it impossible to separate her own thoughts from the magnetic pull of him.
He was outside now, doing his regular perimeter check.
She slipped out the front door before she second-guessed herself, before Zach returned and stopped her.
The late afternoon air hit her face, warm and salt-touched. She breathed it in, letting it clear the fog in her head. Her sneakers crunched on the gravel path as she started walking with no particular destination. Just… away. Just movement.
She’d spend the day coordinating the evacuation, and she was mentally exhausted.
Zach can do things no one else can.
The thought circled through her mind like a marble in a bowl, unable to settle. She saw it with her own eyes—the way he movedduring the attack, faster than possible, stronger than human. The efficiency. The lethal grace.
Other than catching that bolt, she had the impression he’d been holding back, trying to act normal.
Had he been injured because of me?Because he didn’t want her to see what he was?
An instinctive part of her had always sensed something extraordinary about him. That controlled power beneath his taciturn exterior. Butknowingandunderstandingwere two different things.
Her fingers played with the coin in her pocket. She’d been carrying it on her since lunch in the village, unable to shake the belief that it meant something. That it was important somehow.
‘The Windstone was a gift from the wind itself, crossing the sea to protect the island.’
Ana-Luz’s story whispered through her memory. Emma pulled the coin out, studying it as she walked. The spiral glyph caught the slanting sunlight, seeming to shimmer for a moment. The design was so precise, so deliberate. Not decorative. Purposeful.
She frowned and stopped walking.
The spiral… she’d seen it before. Not on the coin. Somewhere else. Recently.
Emma spun, scanning the landscape. The cliffs rose to her left; the path winding upward toward the rocky overlook where she stood with Nick and David that sunrise eons ago. Where they talked about Zach arriving the next day. Where there was a stone marker with the?—
The spiral.
The same pattern. She was certain.
Her feet moved before her mind caught up, carrying her toward the cliff path. She told herself she was only checking.Curious. That she needed the walk to clear her head, and what did it matter which direction she went?
The coin was warm in her palm, almost alive against her skin.
The path narrowed as it wound around, away from the resort and toward the wilder edges of the island. Wind rose from the sea, stronger here, tugging at her hair and jacket. The scent of salt intensified. Emma’s heart picked up pace—not from exertion, but from something else. Anticipation. Recognition.
The cave entrance appeared ahead, a dark mouth in the cliff face. Solombra Cave. Shadow and light. She’d only glimpsed it from above, but up close it was larger than she expected. More imposing. The opening yawned before her, cool air breathing out from its depths.
Emma hesitated at the threshold.
This was foolish. She didn’t bring a flashlight. Didn’t have any supplies. Didn’t even know if the cave was safe or stable or?—
