Chapter 54

KAI

The night was eerily quiet as Yara and I made our way back into the clearing where the skinwalkers had hidden their nest. We waited until the sun was down and it was almost midnight. We could hear them as they passed by us, and I even checked out some of them as they moved through the night. They were faster and more agile, so it made sense that they were able to catch and eat anyone that came in their way.

As we reached the place where they resided, Yara and I paused. I could feel the tension in the air. Yara’s expression was grim, her eyes closed once again as she silently chanted under her breath, feeling the magic that hung in the air like a thick fog. As we stepped into the clearing, we walked as fast as we could to the place where we had seen Alina earlier. Once we reached it, I was glad to see her at the same spot.

She was sitting on a stone bench, her posture unnaturally rigid, her eyes wide and vacant, and that unsettling smile still stretched across her face. My hear