The air inside the cabin was thick, heavy with the scent of ancient dried herbs and the dense residue of old magic. Evangeline stood dead center, her posture as rigid as a drawn blade. Her crimson eyes moved with calculated coldness, shifting between the tense, strained face of her aunt, Jericho, and the mocking, elusive smile of Rudbeka, who seemed to float in the shadows like a serpent waiting to strike.
