Page 44 of Monster's Pretty Bride

20

NARANUS

Iwake to the weight of her absence.

The warmth she left behind still lingers on my skin, a phantom sensation that shouldn’t mean anything, but it does. I’m already on edge before my eyes even open.

I hear something, a sound that doesn’t belong.

Soft, deliberate movement just beyond the cabin walls.

My body tenses, muscles locking as instinct takes over. The fire has burned low, casting the room in deep, shifting shadows. Eryss is standing near the far wall, rigid, her posture sharp with the same tension clawing up my spine.

She hears it too.

Whoever is outside isn’t trying to mask their approach.

They are waiting.

Hunting.

My mind moves through possibilities, but none of them are good. Rogues wouldn’t have waited this long to strike. A lone traveler wouldn’t move like this, circling slow, testing the perimeter.

Whoever it is knows we are here.

I shift, careful not to make noise as I rise to my full height. My wings ache, battered and useless, but my claws curl, sharp and ready. Eryss’s eyes flick toward me, her breathing controlled, but fast.

I motion for her to stay still.

She glares at me like I’ve suggested something offensive.

I step closer, my voice low and sharp. “Let me handle this.”

She scoffs under her breath. “Like you handled almost getting us killed yesterday?”

I suppress a growl, unwilling to waste time arguing with her. She’s reckless. Always looking for an opening to prove something. Always pressing back, even when the smarter choice is to stand down.

I see what she’s holding.

A notebook.

One that wasn’t there when we arrived.

“Where did you get that?” I ask, my voice too quiet, too controlled.

She doesn’t answer immediately. Her grip on the book tightens, her jaw twitching.

Her silver eyes meet mine.

“There’s a Purna here.”

The words dig under my skin, an immediate, violent realization hitting me all at once.

Purna. Not was. Is.

Whoever is outside isn’t just passing through.

They’ve been waiting for us to wake up.

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