ETHAN’S POV
Kieran’s call so early in the morning set me on edge.
The message made things worse. “Bring Celeste to Nightfang. Now.”
The command was clipped, edged, the strain in his voice hinting that his control was wearing dangerously thin.
Anger under ice.
Everything was still raw from the Hunting Festival, the rogues, the trap with Celeste drugged and staged, the growing evidence that someone was targeting Sera.
Now...whatever this was.
Celeste was unstable; that was the kindest word for it. Since admitting her wolf was gone—silenced or severed or worse—she’d been oscillating between brittle composure and jagged hostility.
Bringing her into Nightfang in her current state would have been like tossing a lit match into dry timber.
So, no, I didn’t bring her.
Corin, thankfully, agreed without argument when I asked that he remain at Frostbane with Celeste and keep an eye on her.
Then I set out for Nightfang with Maya.
When we arrived, the air itself felt wrong.
