Page 150 of A Sunwoven Ascent

She burst through the doorway.

And everything slowed.

Her mother stood at the far end of the table, pale but upright, her back pressed to the wood as though it alone kept her standing. And in front of her stood Seraphine, knives clutched in both hands. Her shoulders shook, but she remained between Lady Celeste and the three Noskari circling them, her eyes fixed on the creatures with a fierce, desperate determination Evelyne had never seen in her before.

Those were the hands that had dressed her as a child, braided her hair, and steadied her through tears more times than she could count. Now they held blades. Now they trembled.

The Noskari crept closer, their bodies shifting unnaturally, their heads tilted as though studying her. One struck. Seraphine reacted at once, her arm snapping up just in time for the knife to catch beneath its jaw and drive it back.

Then Evelyne was there. She slammed into it from the side with all her weight, driving it to the floor as her jaws closed around it.

A sharp gasp sounded somewhere in the room. Her mother’s eyes widened first with fear, then with something far more fragile. Recognition. Evelyne looked back at her, and somehow, through the blood and fur and horror of it all, Celeste knew.

“Evelyne?” she whispered.

There was no time to stop. Zade and Kaura intercepted the second creature as it charged at her. Evelyne shoved forward, pressing her body against Seraphine and her mother, forcing them back toward the kitchen.

Go. Please, go.

The words beat through Evelyne’s mind as she drove her mother and Seraphine toward the door, forcing them farther from the danger.

Now.

Lady Celeste stumbled first, and Seraphine caught her, guiding her backward as Evelyne turned to meet the third Noskari head-on. It struck fast, but she was faster. Her claws raked across its chest while Zade and Kaura handled the others.

Evelyne pushed her mother through the entrance with her snout. But the moment they crossed into the kitchens, horror struck all over again.

Bodies lay still across the floor. Broken. Bloodied.

They were servants she knew. Faces she had greeted in corridors, voices she had heard carrying through the house, now still and unrecognizable beneath blood and ruin. Two Noskari crouched among the bodies, feeding, until the sound of movement drew their heads up.

“No!” Seraphine cried out as she took in the scene.

The creatures smiled, fresh crimson dripping from their teeth and chins.

Evelyne launched herself at the nearest one, colliding with enough force to drive it back. Her claws tore through its gray flesh as it snapped and clawed for purchase. Zade struck from the side, Kaura from behind, and together they forced the Noskari away from the bodies.

For one breath, the three of them held the kitchen.

Then more came.

From the dining room. From the corridor. From every shadowed corner of the manor. Gray-skinned bodies crowded the doorway, pressing forward in a wave of hunger and ruin. They poured into the kitchen until the room felt too small to hold them, until the air itself seemed to choke beneath their presence.

Evelyne fought. Gods, she fought. But it would not be enough.

Her strength was fading, her limbs heavy, her breaths ragged and hot in her chest. She did not know where the rest of Oathroot were. She did not know how long she could keep standing. But she would fight until her body failed if it meant keeping her mother, Seraphine, and the others alive for even one more second.

Zade was thrown into the counter, his ribs striking the marble hard enough to make him curl inward with pain.

Fury burned through Evelyne’s blood.

Do. Not. Hurt. Him.

She lunged with a snarl, jaws opening wide and clamping down on the Noskari’s arm. Bone and shadow gave beneath her teeth. She ripped the limb free and flung it aside. Zade staggered, shook off the pain, then threw himself back into the fight. Kaura was still standing, still fighting against anything that came too close.

Good.

Then claws sank into Evelyne’s side. Deeper this time.