Chapter 22 · Frontier Lord - Chapter 22: The Mark Inside the Wall

The third beacon wasn't supposed to exist.

Ava stared at the glowing dot on the crude map Sera had scratched into the dirt outside the storehouse. Two beacons made sense—Klaus had people in the woods, everyone knew that. But the third sat right in the middle of Windstone Hollow. Inside her walls.

"Someone lit it an hour ago," Sera said. Her voice was flat, but her hands kept moving, wiping the same knife over and over. "I only saw it because I was up on the north watchtower. It's small. Maybe a candle behind red glass."

"Where?" Ava's throat felt tight.

"The old grain store. The one we haven't cleared yet."

Ava turned. Rain stood three feet away, arms crossed, watching her like he was waiting for her to make the call. He'd been out of the cell for two days now, sleeping in the corner of the main hall with a guard rotation that everyone knew was pointless. If he wanted to run, he'd be gone. If he wanted to kill her, she'd be dead.

But he hadn't done either.

"You think it's one of yours?" she asked.

Rain shook his head. "My squad's dead.