We are close.
"My house… it's just past those nets since this is a back road', there!"
She pointed to a sagging shack surrounded by broken lobster traps and torn fishing lines.
Alaric nodded.
But Salviana's hand tightened around his.
"This doesn't feel right," she whispered.
"Nothing's ever this easy."
He squeezed her fingers reassuringly.
"Stay sharp," Lucius murmured behind them.
"I don't trust small towns. People gossip even faster than they breathe."
Still, they had no choice.
If they could just reach Emma's mother without being spotted, they could disguise themselves, regroup, and maybe, maybe find Thalia and Heappal before it was too late.
The group moved cautiously, hugging the crumbling fences and weaving between fish barrels.
Somewhere ahead, a door creaked open and a figure stepped into the light, a wiry woman with a scar down her cheek and sharp blue eyes that narrowed at the sight of them.
Emma let out a shaky laugh and tore the scarf from her face.
