I waited until the others had fallen asleep.
We'd returned to the White Den after the feast, exhausted and overwhelmed by everything we'd learned. Marcus collapsed in his alcove immediately. Lydia checked Astro's wound one more time, then retreated to her own sleeping space.
But I couldn't sleep. Kaine's words kept echoing in my head. No one survives ten trials. The last one's for the Goddess herself.
And something else bothered me. Something about the way Astro had reacted when Kaine said it. The way his expression had shuttered. The way he'd looked away.
Like he knew something he wasn't telling us.
I watched him from across the chamber. He sat near the clear pool, staring at his reflection. His hand kept moving to touch the terrible scar across his face, tracing the line from ear to jaw where Luna's hound had torn him open.
He'd fought that creature to save me. Had nearly died protecting a scentless wolf the others considered hollow. Why?
