~Kaida Orion POV~
The horn's wail still rang in my ears when the second blast tore across the night it was sharper, closer, filled with a dread I could not ignore.
My heart leapt into my throat and for a moment, none of us moved, Lupus's hand had already gone to the hilt of his blade, his eyes narrowing as though he could see through stone walls and shadows to whatever waited beyond the gates. Biat's stance was already defensive, his breath steady, his focus sharp.
But me... I stood frozen in the courtyard, my chest still burning from the storm that had just passed and my tears had not even dried, and yet the world demanded I shed them for steel.
"Inside," Lupus said at last, his voice clipped, commanding, he wasn't looking at me, not truly. His gaze swept the dark horizon, his body already moving toward the gates.
I exhale hard. "Lupus..."
