The stone corridors beneath the Hollowfang fortress groaned like old bones as Camille crept along them, clutching a threadbare cloak to her body. The echo of her own footsteps sounded too loud, too certain. Something inside her stomach twisted, not just the dread of being caught, but the pulse of a presence, a tether she couldn't unfeel. She wasn't sure if it was Luna, or something darker pretending to be.
In the shadows behind her, a candle flickered. Not hers. She stopped breathing. A hand clamped over her mouth.
"Don't scream," came a voice like sand and steel.
Rhett.
She twisted in his grip, wild-eyed, but he let her go the moment he saw her face. "Camille?"
"Why are you following me?" she hissed, smoothing her hair down.
"Why are you sneaking through the lower halls?"
Camille didn't answer right away. Her eyes darted down the tunnel, back toward the sealed war chambers. "Because Sterling's planning something. Something worse than what he said to the Council."
