Katie's POV By the time we made it back to the tent, the sky had shifted from pitch black to a bruised, early gray. The fog still clung to the forest like a second skin, thick and quiet, almost too still—as if even the birds were holding their breath.No one said a word once we crossed the threshold of canvas and reentered our temporary shelter. Rori resealed the back seam in practiced silence, while Victoria began brushing loose pine needles from Fenrir’s fur. Vladimyr went straight to the basin, splashing his face again as if the cold water might scrub away the child’s voice, her eyes, that warning.I sat down, knees to my chest, and stared at my hands.Not a shadow.Not a dream.Not a girl.Who was she?"She said ‘they’re waking up,’" I muttered aloud. “Plural.”Vladimyr didn’t turn around. “And the first ones will rise. She was repeating instructions. A script.”“She wasn’t real,” Tori whispered again, kneeling beside her brother.“No,” Vladimyr agreed. “She was worse than that.
Katie’s POVI stood frozen at the tent’s entrance, my fingers still gripping the flap. The camp outside was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that didn’t belong to a place like this.No footsteps. No wind. No chatter.And there was no one.But I know what I heard—or rather, what Vladimyr heard.Someone had whispered my name, not aloud, but in that strange, slithering way some spells and curses carried sound. Thin and invasive, like smoke curling into your ear.Behind me, Vladimyr stepped up beside me silently, his gaze sweeping the empty space outside and then he sent me a telepathy. ‘They’re trying to see if we’ll react. Trying to confirm who you are.’I nodded tightly and lowered the flap. ‘We gave them nothing.’Yet, the knot in my stomach twisted tighter. If they were already testing us this early, then our disguises were only barely holding. And it meant they were suspicious of me first.The wolf.The “exiled scout.”Fenrir growled low, curling tighter into his bedroll at the c
Katie's POVWe arrived at dusk.The outer camp of the Duke didn’t look like a battlefield, not at first. From a distance, it resembled a marketplace—or at least, a crude version of one. Canvas tents flapped in the wind. Fires crackled low in sunken pits. There were wagons, traders, mercenaries, and creatures I couldn’t even name moving about like ants in a nest. All ordinary enough, until you looked closer.Until you saw how still the guards stood, like puppets waiting for strings to pull.Until you noticed the scent in the air—not just smoke, but blood, old and soaked deep into the soil like the land itself remembered every scream.My mate dismounted first. His face was still, unreadable. Fenrir padded ahead, tail low, hackles twitching. Disguised as an ordinary pet. The twins stood on either side of me, unusually quiet for once.We were in enemy territory. That means everyone is serious now and we cannot afford to make one single mistake. Not even one.“Stick to the plan,” Vladimyr
Katie’s POVOn the Road — Hours Before the main InfiltrationThere is a very specific kind of silence that exists in a carriage filled with smug little vampires. The ones I love, that's for sure, but still.. smug ones.It wasn't the uncomfortable kind, or even the anticipatory one that often followed strategy meetings. No. This was the smug silence of two siblings who knew they had won against their older brother who’s the Lord of the North. They seemed so proud about it too. I mean, as they should though, because if it was me, I would brag about it for the rest of the year. If it weren't for the tension and danger that we are about to face, I am pretty sure we already talked about this ages ago.But of course, said risk isn't enough to stop us from mentioning it, especially the twins.Tori lounged by the window with her chin resting in her palm, letting the morning breeze flutter her curls like some self-satisfied heroine in a gothic novel. Rori had kicked his feet up on the opposite
Katie's POV The Next Morning — Infiltration DayWe didn’t even make it past the second stair.I was tightening the straps of my small lootbag when a scream—loud, unrelenting, and filled with all the righteous fury only one specific girl could muster—pierced through the hallway.“I knew it!”The voice came from below the stairs, followed by rapid footsteps and a very disgruntled Sebastian yelling, “Young mistress, wait—!”I froze. Vladimyr, standing behind me, muttered a low, resigned, “Oh dear.”And then she came into view, wild curls tangled from sleep, eyes blazing, her little fists clenched at her sides. Behind her was of course, her twin brother, calmer but no less determined, arms crossed and face taut with that telltale stubbornness that he definitely inherited from their older brother.“You were going to leave us behind.. again!” Victoria accused, pointing a finger at me like I’d betrayed the entire realm.“I was going to leave you safe,” I corrected, trying to sound authorita
Katie's POVMorning came too quickly.A low knock at the chamber door stirred me from the few hours of rest I’d managed. Vladimyr was still asleep beside me—if his deep, even breaths could be called sleep. His brow was furrowed, as if his mind couldn’t rest even in dreams.I carefully slipped from beneath the covers, pulling on a robe and tying it tight at the waist as I opened the door.Miranda stood there, her hands folded neatly, but the tight set of her jaw betrayed her calm demeanor.“Report,” I said softly, stepping into the hallway and closing the door behind me.“We’ve finished securing the inner sanctum,” she said, falling in step beside me as we walked down the corridor. “The twins are under protective watch. They know something is happening, but we haven’t told them the full extent.”“They’ll figure it out,” I murmured.“They already are,” she admitted. “The young mistress tried to break through the barriers last night. Said she dreamed you were in danger.”Of course she di