Ambush

Chapter Twenty

Ambush

/-Tediora-/

The forest changed the deeper we went.

The trees grew thicker, older. Their roots knotted out of the earth like veins, and the shadows clung heavier. The silence became unnatural, no birds, no wind, just the occasional crunch of leaves beneath our boots and the slow, steady rasp of Asher’s breathing beside me.

Something was wrong.

And not in the usual rogue-border way. No, this was gut-churning wrong. Too quiet, too controlled, like the woods were holding their breath.

I slowed, hand inching toward the dagger strapped to my thigh. Asher glanced at me, his expression unreadable, then gave the faintest nod.

He sensed it too.

“Up ahead,” he whispered.

I followed his gaze.

We were approaching a small clearing near the western ridge. Part of the mapped patrol route, but from the way the underbrush was disturbed, it looked like something had just moved through here.

Not something. Many things.

My heart stuttered.

The scent hit me a second later, metallic, bi