The attack came at dawn.
Not the polite kind. Not a warning shot or a challenge howled across territory lines.
This was an execution attempt.
Aria felt it tear through her before the alarm ever sounded, a violent wrench in the threads she now sensed as clearly as her own pulse. The land recoiled. Trees shuddered. Somewhere far too close, something ancient screamed.
She sat upright in bed, breath sharp.
Damien was already moving.
Steel, speed, and instinct. He was on his feet in a heartbeat, the room flooding with the crackle of his restrained power as the reinforced glass windows flickered with defensive runes.
"They crossed the boundary," Aria said.
"How many?" Damien asked, already pulling on his coat.
"Enough to be arrogant."
That was not good.
