Nobody moved.
For one terrible second—
the entire cabin forgot how breathing worked.
Nancy's pulse thundered in her ears.
Inside—
Nyra had gone completely still.
Not calm.
Frozen.
Kai noticed immediately.
"Nancy?"
"She's scared," Nancy whispered.
That sentence alone changed the atmosphere.
Because Nyra feared almost nothing.
And if she was afraid—
then whoever stood outside was not normal.
Leo stepped back from the doorway.
"She's still there."
Evan appeared behind him, already armed because apparently paranoia was his love language.
"She hasn't crossed the barrier."
Nancy blinked.
"The barrier?"
Mara answered quietly from the hallway.
"The protection lines around the cabin."
Oh.
Right.
Apparently somewhere between emotional breakdowns and surviving apocalypses, they had acquired magical security systems.
Reasonable.
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"If she knows about the barrier, then she knows what this place is."
"And if she knows Nyra…" Evan added darkly, "…then she's old."
That was somehow worse.
Nancy stood slowly from the bed.
Inside her chest—
Nyra's voice finally surfaced.
Weak.
Shaken.
Do not let her inside.
Well.
That was deeply concerning.
Nancy grabbed a jacket quickly.
Kai immediately blocked the door.
"You're not going out there alone."
"I wasn't planning to."
"You literally walk into danger recreationally."
"That feels judgmental."
"It's accurate."
Unfortunately—
he had a point.
Rude.
A few minutes later—
they stepped outside together.
The night air felt unnaturally cold.
The trees were silent.
Too silent.
Like the forest itself was listening.
And near the edge of the barrier—
stood