Chapter 7 · Shadow Hunter

"You’re not here," the guard spat, his voice echoing through the damp corridor. "I can't feel a damn thing. Where are you hiding, you little rat?"

Cain pressed his spine against the cold stone, barely breathing. He could smell the man—sweat, cheap tobacco, and the metallic tang of a low-grade marrow. The guard was a Tracker, trained to sense the vibration of bone marrow in the air. But the Devouring Bone inside Cain didn't vibrate. It swallowed. It drank the surrounding energy, leaving Cain a ghost in the physical world.

"Come out and I'll make it quick," the guard yelled, his boots clumping closer. "The General wants you alive, but she didn't say I couldn't break a few ribs first."

Cain leaned his head back, eyes narrowing. *Break my ribs? You can't even find my heartbeat.*

He shifted his weight, the movement silent as a shadow. He wasn't just hiding; he was measuring. He could see the faint glow of the guard's marrow pulsing in his neck—a sickly yellow light. To the guard, Cain was invisible. To Cain, the guard was a walking buffet.

"Maybe you're too scared to move," the guard taunted, stopping just three feet away.