Hope

I don’t want to leave them.

The thought claws at my chest as hard as the fear does, as hard as the burn in my lungs. Lina’s face is streaked with dirt and resolve, Rhys already shifting his stance into a fighter’s crouch, and Tirianna’s eyes glow faintly as her wolf hums just beneath her skin. They are all staying. For me.

“You have to go,” Lina says, grabbing my shoulders. Her grip trembles, just a little. “Hope, listen to me. You have to get out of here.”

“No,” I breathe. “We can—”

“We can’t,” Rhys cuts in, sharp and final. The forest around us shudders with distant shouts...