AYLA'S POV
Snow spiraled through the Frostfang gorge, slicing my skin like tiny knives. Time slowed.
Rylan's knife hovered at my throat, the cold bite of steel kissing my skin. His amber-violet eyes wavered, haunted by a war I couldn't see but could feel in every trembling muscle of his arm.
Behind him, Kael's black wolf crouched low, a storm of bristling fur and golden fire. His growl rolled through the gorge, vibrating in my bones and the bond alike.
Touch her and die.
Above us, on the cliff's jagged lip, Cassia stood draped in white and gold, her smile gleaming like a blade. The eyeless god swirled behind her in coils of smoke and shadow, its hollow sockets fixed on me.
"Kill him, rogue," she purred, voice carrying like silk in the icy wind. "Bring me my Luna, and I'll let the boy live."
Nico whimpered from behind my leg, a fragile sound that tore through the howling wind and pierced my heart.
