NightShade’s lights glow a little warmer, as ifapproving of the sentiment. Outside, I know the pack is moving through the grounds, unseen but vigilant, giving us this moment of peace.
For the first time since I came back, the future doesn’t feel like a weapon aimed at my chest.
It feels like something we might actually survive.
At least for a few heartbeats—right up until Cade goes rigid beside me.
His hand tightens on my knee, not hard, but alert. Focused.
“Someone’s here,” he says quietly, a faint look crosses his face that tells me someone from the pack is speaking to him. “A magic user. Powerful.” His gaze flicks toward the windows, the walls. “Stephanie doesn’t recognize him.”
A pulse of unease rolls through my chest.
“He’s not stopping,” Cade adds.
Elias is already on his feet. Cade follows, napkin abandoned on the table. Liz swears under her breath as she pushes her chair back, Marius rising last, slower but coiled like a drawn blade.
I stand as well, right when Iris throws her hands up, exasperated.
“Oh, calm your biscuits, all of you,” she says briskly. “That’s just Jacob.”
The room freezes.
The name lands wrong. Too casual and easy.
It’s the second time she’s mentioned it, but now it crawls across my skin like something alive.
“Who is Jacob, Iris?” Liz asks carefully.
Iris waves a hand, already moving toward the door. “You know him. Or youdid.” She pauses, frowningslightly, as if the memory isn’t sitting quite where it should. “He stayed here about a year ago. A warlock. The nicest man. Quiet and polite and…”
My pulse starts to thud in my ears.
“We shouldn’t leave him standing out in the cold,” Iris continues cheerfully. “That would be rude.”
“Iris,” Cade starts.
But she’s already halfway down the hall.
The house shifts as she goes.
Not loudly. Just enough that the candles flicker and the air feelsthinner.
I don’t move.
Because suddenly I understand why Stephanie doesn’t recognize him.
Why Cade’s wolf is on edge. Why my skin is screaming.
And why the nameJacobfeels like a lie wearing a smile.
We all follow, faster than walking but not quite a run. Yet, we don’t manage to catch Iris before she reaches for the door.
“No!” I call out, but she doesn’t hear me. Or maybe she does and doesn’t understand why it matters.
My stomach drops, but Wolf is right there with me, ready to act.
The doorknob turns, the cold air rushes in, and beyond the threshold, from the shadows of the night,Jacobsteps forward.
