Page 100 of Shifting Hearts 1
FIVE
Hunting Shadows
Emilia
The silence between us is sharp. Not awkward or empty. No, it’s loaded, tangible, and suffocating.Every step we take through the woods is a memory we haven’t spoken aloud. A wound we both pretend we can’t feel.
I want to hate him. Goddess, I want to hate him, but hate doesn’t burn like this. Hate doesn’t make my pulse skip when his shoulder brushes mine. Hate doesn’t twist into my gut when he growls low under his breath, every muscle in his back straining against that tight black shirt.
No. This isn’t hate. It’s the bond and it’s lust coiling low in my stomach. The gods-damned, soul-scarring, mate-bond. And it’s eating us alive.
We reach the edge of Crystal Falls just as the first stars blink into existence above the trees. The little town is quiet now, streetlights glowing amber, windows shuttered, and shop doors locked. It should feel peaceful, but it doesn’t.
Lucian stops beside me, his nostrils flaring. “It’s too quiet.”
“There’s no movement in the ether,” I say softly, brushing my palm across the air. “Whoever’s behind this knows how to hide.”
“Or they’ve lived here longer than we think,” he says lowly.
I glance at him. He’s looking at the bakery across the street like it might bite him.
“I’ll tap into the ward lines,” I murmur. “The town’s woven with old protections. I can bend them enough to show us what’s out of place.”
His jaw clenches. “Are you sure that’s safe?”
I smirk. “Are you scared I might burn something down?”
“More scared you’ll burn yourself.”
My stomach flutters before I can stop it. That’s stupid. He doesn’t give a shit about me. He’s just protecting the witch that’s helping him, that’s all. Pain slices through my heart and I turn away before he can see it.
“Let me work,” I say angrily.
The ritual takes all of ten minutes. I kneel in the center of the crossroad, my fingers splayed on cold pavement, and a small amount of my blood smeared at each corner. The magic hums low in my chest as I chant. Not loud and not dramatic. Just enough to put the ritual into motion.
A shimmer rolls through the street like heat off asphalt and suddenly, the town breathes.Lucian stiffens behind me.
“Do you see it?” I ask.
“I see something...”
The shimmer sharpens, showing glowing footprints in the dust, too large to be human. A long smear of dark magic trails from the edge of the lake, winding through alleys, across cobblestones, and back into the woods again.
And woven into that path? A sigil. One I’ve seen before, one that makes my pulse stall.
Lucian’s voice cuts through the haze. “Do you recognize it?”
I nod. “This isn’t just some killer you’re chasing. It’s a damn summoner.”
He goes still for a long moment. “You said that thing isn’t a full wolf.”
“It isn’t. It was made, summoned.”
“Made with what?”
I look at him, my throat tight as I answer. “With soul magic.”
His eyes darken, anger rolling off him in waves. “That’s forbidden.”
