Page 20 of The Panther's Price

“So how?”

Lucien adjusted his cloak and didn’t answer. He didn’t lie. But silence was its own kind of evasion.

Evryn folded her arms.

“Don’t feed me mystery-boy nonsense about instincts or ‘the wind told you.’ I want a real answer.”

Lucien looked away, toward the skyline cracking open with thin gray light. “The Veil’s not just geography,” he said. “It’s... layered. Certain threads echo louder. You were one of them.”

Evryn blinked slowly. “So that’s a fancy way of saying you followed myscent?”

Lucien’s lips twitched, just barely. “Something like that.”

She wasn’t satisfied. But she let it go, for now.

They walked in silence for another mile, following the trail deeper into the Shatterroads. The trees thinned into ancient ruins—collapsed archways, toppled columns. A forgotten cathedral loomed ahead, half-swallowed by the forest, its windows shattered and spires leaning like drunks in a storm.

Lucien led her inside without a word. The wind sang through the broken rafters like a mourning song. He tossed down his cloak on the stone altar steps.

Evryn didn’t sit.

She was staring at him again.

“When are we going to find Eamon?” she asked.

Lucien’s jaw tightened.

“That’s not your biggest problem right now.”

Her brows lifted. “Excuse me?”

“You’re being hunted.”

“Yeah. I figured that part out. Fangs and claws gave it away.”

Lucien stepped toward the stained-glass shadow of a forgotten saint. His voice dropped low, cold. “You have no idea what’s coming. The moment my mother finds out you’re alive?—”

Evryn cut in. “She’ll kill me.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re just gonna wait until she does?”

“No,” he said sharply. “That’s why I haven’t taken you anywhere specific yet. If I go toanyknown safehold, someone will talk. Word gets out. And then Thalia will want her prize back, and my mother will want your head mounted in her throneroom.” He left out the part where he was supposed to be the one to give it to her.

“So instead,” she said, voice climbing, “you drag me through cursed ruins with no plan and no food?”

Lucien turned to face her fully.

“I’m trying tokeep you hidden.Until I figure out what the hell to do with you.”

Evryn stared at him for a beat.

Then: “Do with me?”

He opened his mouth. Closed it. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

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