Edric's attention shifted first, not because Leone had moved, but because something in the shadows had.
It was subtle at first, a disturbance at the edge of perception, the kind of presence that did not announce itself but pressed against the air all the same. His instincts sharpened at once. The ruin around them had grown too still, too expectant, and in that instant of distraction Leone moved.
The blade flashed.
Edric reacted on instinct more than thought. He shoved her away with a force that sent her stumbling backward, and the momentum of it drove her head against the broken stone behind her. The sound was sharp and sickening in the quiet. Leone crumpled almost at once, her body sliding down into the rubble as consciousness fled from her.
Edric's breath stalled.
