Elara POV
The blast didn't hit like the others.
It didn't pull me under.
It shoved — a violent jolt that cracked the window, blew out half the lamps, and shook three different people into shouting at once.
Glass scattered across the floor.
Cold wind punched in.
The shadow vanished…
Not gone.
Moved.
Somewhere inside the fortress.
Kaelen grabbed me and pulled me back from the broken window, breath hard, eyes shifting, his wolf so close to the surface I could feel the heat rolling off him.
"Stay behind me," he growled.
Theron stepped to the shattered frame, magic gathering cold around his hand. "It slipped into the lower levels. It's searching. Not wandering. Searching."
His eyes flicked toward me. "For something… or someone."
My pulse thudded so loud it drowned the wind.
Mira pressed a hand to the wall, steadying herself. "It said someone opened a door. Someone inside this fortress let it in."
Kaelen's head snapped toward her. "Who?"
