Novels by Nathaniel Korbi

Retreat through the forestThe trees closed around them like dark ribs. Damp moss clung to Ava’s boots as she stumbled after Silas, the last of the ruins’ pale light still burning behind her eyes. Every step sent a dull throb up her calves. Her grip on the dagger was so tight her knuckles had gone white. It no longer glowed; it was just cold steel now, heavy and silent.Rowan walked on her other side, limping a little, his shirt ripped open where the thrall’s claws had found him. He said nothing, but his jaw was clenched hard enough to crack a tooth. Mara brought up the rear, scanning the shadows with her knives out, hair damp with mist. Caleb hovered in the middle of the line, clutching his satchel as if it contained his heartbeat.No one spoke at first. Only the muted slap of boots on wet leaves and the distant, pulsing call of the horn echoing through the trees. It came and went like a tide, low and mournful, as though something far away were breathing in time with them.Finally Ma

The forest changed as they approached Gray Hollow. Trees thinned into pale trunks like bones, and the air grew colder even though the rain had stopped. Mist curled along the ground, veiling roots and stones. Every step felt like walking into a dream that remembered its own nightmares.Ava tightened her grip on the dagger Mara had given her. The carvings on the hilt pulsed faintly, matching her heartbeat. She could almost hear whispers under the wind — not words, just a low hum, like something calling her name from a long distance.“Not far now,” Silas said quietly. His eyes flicked from shadow to shadow. “Stay close.”Rowan trudged behind them, jaw tight, his hand never straying far from his gun. “This place is cursed,” he muttered. “I can feel it.”Mara gave a dry laugh. “Everything’s cursed now.”Caleb adjusted his satchel. “Gray Hollow was once a sanctuary for hunters and wolves alike, before the first Blood Moon split them apart. My notes say the old wardings still sleep beneath t

Rain blurred the trees into streaks of black and silver as they ran. Ava’s legs felt like lead, each step heavier than the last. The power she’d unleashed back at the cabin had left her hollow, as if she’d burned through all the air in her lungs.“Slow down,” she gasped. “I can’t—”Silas stopped abruptly, scanning the forest with eyes that glowed faintly even in the darkness. “We’re almost there. Just a little farther.”Rowan caught up, breath ragged. He looked at Ava with a mixture of shock and worry. “What the hell was that back there? That wasn’t normal, Ava. That wasn’t—” He broke off, shaking his head. “We need to get you out of here, away from him.”Silas spun on him. “She saved your life, and you still think I’m the problem?”“You kidnapped her,” Rowan snapped. “You dragged her into your war—”“I dragged her out of a trap,” Silas shot back.“Enough,” Ava said, louder than she meant to. Both men fell silent. She bent over, hands on her knees, rain plastering her hair to her face

The fire snapped and hissed as Rowan stepped inside, rain dripping from his coat. His eyes flicked from Ava to Silas and back again, a storm of anger and relief crossing his face.“Ava,” he said again, more quietly now. “What are you doing here?”Ava rose slowly from the chair, the heavy book still in her hands. “I…I don’t know anymore,” she admitted. “Everything’s upside down.”Rowan’s jaw tightened. “You disappeared. The whole station’s looking for you. Elias is ready to send out a search party.”Silas leaned against the wall, arms folded. “Of course he is. Can’t have his prize wandering off.”Rowan shot him a glare. “You stay out of this.”“No,” Ava said sharply. “Both of you stay out of this for one second and just tell me the truth. Who’s been lying to me? Who’s actually on my side?”The question hung in the air. Rowan’s face softened, but there was a tremor in his voice when he said, “I’m on your side. Always. That’s why I came.”Silas’s golden eyes glinted in the firelight. “Th

Midnight crept closer.Ava sat on the cot in the back office, staring at the glowing digits on her phone. 11:47 p.m. The note from Silas burned in her hand like a live wire.She’d told herself she wouldn’t go. That she’d stay put, lock the door, wait for dawn. But the longer she stared at her father’s journal, the more the words she will awaken under the blood moon seemed to pulse on the page. No one here was giving her straight answers. Maybe Silas would.She slid the journal into her backpack and stood. The station was quiet. Somewhere down the hall a coffee pot gurgled; the lone deputy on duty was snoring in the squad room. Rowan had gone out on patrol after an urgent call from Elias — “just an hour,” he’d said. “Lock the door until I’m back.”Ava eased the lock open and slipped out.The night air smelled of wet pine and smoke. Fog wrapped around the streetlights like gauze. She pulled up her hood and walked quickly toward the edge of town, heart hammering. This is crazy, she told

The lamp clicked off and the room drowned in darkness.Ava’s breath caught. For a moment she couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. The silhouette beyond the curtain didn’t retreat; it lingered, those gold eyes fixed on her. Then, as if some invisible cord snapped, the shadow melted back into the mist and was gone.She fumbled for her phone, thumb shaking on the screen as she dialled Rowan. It rang twice before he answered, voice hoarse.“What’s wrong?”“There’s—someone outside,” she whispered. “Looking in my window. I saw—” She stopped herself. “I don’t know what I saw.”“Stay where you are. I’m turning around.”“No, just…just tell me what’s going on,” she said, forcing her voice steady. “I’m not a child, Rowan.”He was silent for a beat. “Lock the window. Stay away from it. I’ll explain when I get there.”The line went dead.Ava crept to the window, yanked the curtain aside. The yard was empty, only mist curling between the trees. Her reflection stared back at her in the glass—pale fac