Page 137 of Full Moon
"Be careful," I whisper, my brow creasing as a familiar, playful smirk dances on his lips. His expression is casual, but I can feel the underlying caution humming in his blood through our bond.
"Always, Precious," he murmurs, his voice holding a dark humor that does nothing to ease my growing dread. "When in doubt,turn everyone to stone and get out as fast as possible." The weight of his words sinks into me like cold iron as he pulls away, sliding back between the seats with effortless grace before locking eyes with Easton. The shift in his demeanor is instant, a cool mask slipping into place that tells me more than any words could. "Go to the area I showed you. It's wide open, and with the moon in the sky, it's well lit."
"Got it," Easton replies, shaking Khal's hand with a silent understanding passing between them—one that makes my unease spike sharply. They have an escape plan for me that I'm not privy to, and the realization sits like lead in my stomach.
As Khal exits the vehicle, the air seems to thicken with the change. I can feel his beast stirring, coiling just beneath the surface, ready to snap into action if things go south. He moves with deadly purpose, and we watch him until he rounds a corner and disappears into the night like a shadow swallowed by deeper darkness.
A knot tightens in my chest, and I fight the urge to follow. Every instinct screams at me to make sure he's safe, to be at his side if something goes wrong, but before I can act, Easton pulls the SUV onto a different road, turning into the lot Khal mentioned.
Now, all we can do is wait.
The quiet stretches between us, the tension so palpable in the confined space that I can almost taste it. My fingers drum against my leg as my mind races with what-ifs and worst-case scenarios. Khal is out there handling something unknown, something dangerous enough to warrant a stop in this godforsaken town where mages hunt us like prey.
The air outside is thick with the scent of damp earth and the faint rustle of wind through skeletal trees, but the sounds of nature do nothing to calm the unease building in my gut like a storm gathering strength.
Time seems to slow, each second dragging longer than the last as the moonlight filters through the windshield and casts eerie shadows that dance across the dashboard like restless spirits. My eyes flick to Easton, noting the way his grip tightens on the steering wheel until his knuckles go white. He's on edge too, though he hides it well beneath that calm facade.
I can't help but think of Khal out there in the darkness, armored in his beast's scales, walking into whatever danger awaits him with nothing but his wits and his deadly gaze. The night feels heavy around us, pressing in from all sides like the air before a storm—thick with the promise of violence.
Something's coming. I can feel it in my bones, in the way my wolf paces restlessly beneath my skin, in the way the ancient magic of the gauntlets hums against my forearms like a warning. I can only hope that I'm wrong. But deep down, in the part of me that has survived assassination attempts and wendigo attacks and mages who want to control the spirit of winter itself, I know I'm not.
Something's coming.
And when it arrives, we need to be ready to run—or ready to fight.
