Chapter 3 Shadows Behind the Fog

The Bloddy turned as one toward the source of the sound. Their shadows fell faint and broken across the ancient trees, the night fog wrapping around them like a grey shroud.

"Did you hear that?" asked a blond Bloddy, his red pupils narrowing, catching the moonlight.

"Hear what?" said the one beside him, unbothered.

"I heard it too," another added. "Like a branch snapping underfoot."

"Probably just a wild animal," a third muttered, trying to settle the tension.

Not all Bloddy were gifted with sharp hearing or sight. Only a few among them carried that particular advantage.

"What if it's a Hima?" someone whispered. "We should stay alert, even if they've been gone for years."

Hima.

Ten years ago, the Bloddy had descended on The Quirk, a remote settlement far from both Aloew Forest and the old castle of Gorthic, far from anything the Terran would ever find. What had once been a place of life was now rubble. The sky above The Quirk stayed grey, as though the land itself had never recovered from the weight of what happened there.

The Hima had lived in that place. They no longer existed.

A broad-shouldered Bloddy smiled, showing his fangs. "No need to worry about the Hima. Could just be a Terran out hunting. Besides, the Hima are long gone."

But the words did not fully land. A quiet unease had already settled among them, stubborn and unshakeable.

Silence returned. Wind moved through the old trees. Several pairs of red eyes stayed sharp, watching the dark.

The Bloddy knew the Terran hunted in Aloew after nightfall. It was common knowledge. The scent of human blood drifting through the leaves often stirred their instincts, drying their throats, pulling at the hunger they kept carefully leashed.

But right now, none of them could pick up the scent of a Terran.

"Hey, Joce," said a low voice. "That sound just now. You caught it, didn't you?"

The man in the red cloak who had been standing quietly beside her turned his head slowly. His face was half-hidden by his hood, only his eyes catching the light as they settled on her.

Joce, the woman with flame-red hair, surfaced from her own thoughts. She had been listening without speaking, her gaze fixed straight ahead, as though trying to see through the dark itself.

But her ears had not missed a single whisper.

She glanced at the man beside her, then drew a slow breath, reaching out with her senses toward whatever had broken the quiet a moment ago. Her eyes narrowed. Her focus sharpened.

Several seconds passed.

She felt it. A heartbeat. Nervous. Unsteady.

Her brow furrowed. Her eyes moved quickly through the trees, searching.

Then her vision blurred slightly, as though something unseen was pushing back against her. She blinked. Once, twice. Whatever was out there refused to come into focus.

Terran or Hima? She couldn't tell.

"Joce?" One of the Bloddy stepped closer. "Did you find something?"

She didn't answer right away. She tried again, pushing harder.

The image stayed murky. Like fog that wouldn't clear, like something actively resisting her sight.

For the first time in a long while, Joce felt uncertain. Something out there was twisting her ability back on itself, keeping her blind to whoever, or whatever, was hiding in those trees.

The man in the red cloak watched her from the corner of his eye, tracking every small shift in her expression.

Joce felt his attention and kept her face still. She drew a measured breath and smoothed out whatever might have shown.

"I'm not picking up any Hima or Terran," she said. Her voice came out flat, practiced. "Probably just an animal."

The Bloddy nearby clicked his tongue. "Told you. Stop worrying."

But the man in the red cloak did not respond immediately. His eyes stayed on Joce, reading her the way he always did, looking for the thing beneath the surface.

"You sure?" he asked. Quiet. Direct.

Joce turned and met his gaze. For a moment the world around them contracted to just that, the two of them and the silence stretched between.

"Yes," she said simply.

The quiet held, and then a young man standing beside Joce stepped forward. Broad shoulders, steady eyes, something restless and eager burning underneath.

"Sir, let me go check," he said.

"Dante." A Bloddy nearby turned on him, half-exasperated. "Joce already said it's probably an animal. What are you doing?"

Dante ignored him completely. His eyes were fixed on their leader, on the man in the red cloak who had not yet moved or spoken.

"Do I have your permission?"

Lucas Valmont turned slowly. His red eyes settled on Dante with the kind of stillness that did not need to announce itself.

Lucas Valmont. A name that carried full weight among the Bloddy. He stood at the top of their hierarchy, respected and feared in equal measure. His gaze was cold but held a force that left no room for argument. He was not simply a leader. He was what the Bloddy measured themselves against.

"Yes."

One word. Dante was gone before the sound of it finished, his shadow dissolving between the trees.

"What trouble is he going to cause this time," someone muttered under their breath.

Dante was known for it. Wild, difficult to control. Only Lucas could hold him in check. No one else came close.

Beside Lucas, Joce turned her head. The disappointment in her eyes was plain, even if she would never say it aloud. Her red gaze found him and stayed there.

"Why did you let him go?" she said, low enough that only he could hear. "Don't you trust me anymore?"

Lucas looked at her. His eyes were sharp and unreadable.

"Let him be," he said quietly. "Better he burns it off here than goes after a Terran and makes a mess somewhere else."

Joce said nothing. She faced forward again, her jaw tightening, something bitter and restless moving through her chest.

She had lied. She knew something was out there. She just couldn't say that her ability had failed her, that whatever was hiding in those trees had slipped right past her sight without explanation.

Lucas's decision was final. That was the end of it.

She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Lucas glanced at her.

He had just remembered something about her. Something useful.

"Are you reading my mind?" he asked. Calm, but with an edge beneath it.

Joce looked at him sideways, slow and unbothered, then turned away without a word.

She didn't see the point in answering something they both already knew.

Lucas watched her reaction. A faint smile crossed the corner of his mouth.

He already knew. He just wanted to hear her say it.

"Answer me, Jocelyn Adler."

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