The rain eased into a soft drizzle, tapping against Gabriel's hood as the last echo of laughter faded into the trees.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them moved.
The air still felt wrong, like the fog had taken something with it.
Gabriel lowered his swords only a fraction, his chest rising and falling, with slow, controlled breaths. The glow in his irises dimmed but never fully vanished.
Tess swallowed hard, her grip on her blade trembling. "Gabriel… what was that?"
He didn't answer because he didn't know.
Instead, he listened. To the wind, to the grass bending in the rain, to the trees holding their breath.
Everything was still, too still.
Gabriel finally spoke, voice low. "Stay close."
Tess nodded, stepping behind him as he guided them back towards the horses.
They only took two steps before Gabriel stopped again.
The buzzing in the air had gone, but something else had replaced it.
A silence so heavy he could feel it in his chest.
Tess whispered, "…Gabriel?"
