out of the

body thrummed with restless energy, every nerve awake and crackling. The cool night air drifting i

e to midnight

e porch. The world was bathed in silver light, the moon full and fat in the velvet sk

Abby didn

answered the pu

oss the gravel paths and into the forest beyond. Her feet found the trail

. Pine sap and damp earth, the faint musk of anima

iliar wilderness, following a call she didn't u

had tak

hispered: Move

he rhythm of her steps. She moved faster, leaping over fallen logs, ducking lo

narrowed t

against

under her

ive of mos

o a wide clearing, bathed in the bright glow of the moon. Br

alized she

T-shirts, leggings, loose tunics - but there was nothing casual about the way they watched her. Their eyes gl

waterfall of black curls and arms cor

e asked, voice lo

her mouth suddenly

of white teeth. Not unfr

ght the real

ry man with a jagged scar across his

hammered, but

gnit

t and wild - stirred, stretching, yawni

as if it were the most natural thing in the wor

, at the ease with which they held themselves - not like humans, not

part of herself,

e

n extend

with

n the threshold between the life sh

he clearing and to