Black Hollow slept poorly.

  It always had, but Lysara noticed it more now — the way the town never quite surrendered to night. Doors latched twice. Windows shuttered even when the air was warm. People moved with purpose even when there was nowhere to go.

  She stood inside Valos’s workroom, close enough to the table to see the ink bleeding through old parchment.

  Kayden leaned against the wall near the door, a few steps away. Quiet. Present.

  Valos muttered to himself as he worked.

  “Three incidents this month.” He looked up. “Two last month. Used to be one every season — if that.” He flicked a page aside. “People. Not beasts.”

  Lysara stilled.

  “Symptoms?” she asked.

  “Disorientation. Gaps in memory. Sudden aggression.” He snorted. “Same old story, except the timing’s off. Too fast. Too clean.”

  “Clean?” she echoed.

  “No rot. No fever. No gradual decline.” He tapped the parchment. “They don’t look sick until they are. And then you can’t unsee it.”

  Kayden’s jaw tightened.

  Valos noticed. Of course he did.

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  “You’re smelling it,” Valos said.

  He crossed to a crate shoved under the table and dragged it out with a grunt. Papers spilled over the edge — loose notes, old logs, half-finished diagrams written in three different hands and abandoned mid-thought.

  He gathered them without ceremony and shoved the bundle into Lysara’s arms.

  “Keep it,” he said.

  She blinked. “Valos—”

  “Read it,” he cut in. “Burn it. Show it if you want or need to. It’s yours to do with as you deem.”

  She looked down at the papers, weight heavier than it should have been.

  “These are your notes.”

  “And they’re no good rotting here,” he snapped. Then, quieter, “I’m seeing more corruption than I should. And not all of it stays in the Forest.”

  That landed harder than the rest.

  “You think—” she began.

  “I don’t know what I think,” Valos said flatly. “I know what I’m seeing. And I know you’re closer to the line than I am now.”

  He studied her — not her eyes, not her hair, but the way she held herself.

  “You’re not trying to erase it anymore,” he said.

  She didn’t deny it.

  Valos huffed. “Good. Erasure was never going to work.”

  Silence stretched.

  “Don’t test the fog again,” he said finally. “Not here. Not there. Not anywhere.”

  “I won’t,” she said.

  He looked at her sharply. “Don’t say that lightly.”

  “No,” she agreed. “I’m not.”

  Valos nodded once, satisfied.

  “Also, your blood came back clean, no sign of poisoning.”

  He glanced at Kayden. “You’ll keep her alive.”

  Kayden didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  “That wasn’t a request,” Valos muttered. “Just making sure we’re clear.”

  He turned back to his table, already done with the moment.

  “You should go before the town starts asking why you’re here,” he said. “Black Hollow doesn’t like witnesses.”

  Lysara adjusted the bundle under her arm.

  At the door, she paused.

  “Valos.”

  He didn’t look up. “What?”

  “You take care of yourself,” she said. “And, thank you.”

  That earned her a brief, sideways glance.

  “Don’t get soft on me,” he said. “That’ll cause me sleepless nights.”

  Outside, the air felt thinner.

  The town pressed in on itself behind them as they left, shadows closing where their footsteps passed. Lysara didn’t look back at the broken fence this time. She didn’t need to.