A figure stood near the edge, where the rock had been shaped flat. Sage reached him after climbing metal bars hammered into the cliff. Above, the night pressed down, thick with bright points scattered wide. Trees spread below like a floor without edges, shadowed and still beneath the glow above.
Perched on the narrow rim, feet dangling into empty air, he held a device - real tech, something Sage hadn't come across since walking away from Crimson Howl. Light spilled from the screen, painting his s
kin in pale electric tones, carving hollows under his jaw. The night swallowed everything beyond that small circle of brightness.
He looked like Declan.
Belly tight, Sage stood frozen. The wolf inside snarled, restless. Silver stung her skin again - just a memory, yet real enough.
Far from resembling Declan, that wasn't him either.
