Chapter 24 · Guildfire

The torches came through the trees like a ring of stars closing in.

Cole's hand went to his belt. Empty. He'd burned through every prepared sigil back at the temple. Ivy was still staring at the black stone, at the name carved into it, but her fingers tightened on his arm. She'd seen them too.

"Don't move." The voice came from Cole's left. A woman's voice. Flat. The kind of flat that meant she'd already decided how this ended.

Cole turned slow. Counted six torches. Maybe more behind the trees. The woman stepped into the moonlight first. Tall. Guild leathers, the kind with steel rivets down the seams. Her hair was tied back so tight it pulled at her temples. She had a crossbow. It was pointed at Ivy.

"Cole Ash," the woman said. "You're a hard man to track."

"Didn't know I was being tracked." Cole kept his hands where she could see them. His mind was already running through what he could cast without a focus. Not much. Not fast.

"Guild contract." She didn't lower the crossbow. "Bring you back. Alive if possible."

"And her?" Cole nodded at Ivy.

The woman's mouth twitched. Not a smile. "Her's different."