The knocking came again.
Mera's lips thinned.
"I've already told her you needed rest." She turned away, ignoring the door entirely, returning to her alchemy station as if the sound wasn't shaking the hinges.
Another strike rattled the wood.
Gabriel's head lifted toward the door, stomach tightening. The scent of roasted rabbit vanished beneath the rising tension in the air.
Mera folded her arms, glancing over her shoulder. "She's going to wake the dead if she keeps banging."
"Gabriel!"
Tess's voice tore through the wood, muffled but unmistakably furious.
Mera exhaled sharply through her nose.
The knocking snapped again, unrelenting, impatient.
Gabriel stepped toward the door, boots dragging across the floorboards. His legs still felt stiff, but Tess wasn't going to stop.
Mera's glare followed him the entire way.
Each knock synced with the thump of his heartbeat.
As he reached for the latch, a blade of cold Northern air slipped through the frame.
He opened the door.
