The first one was northeast, fifteen meters out, using the hedgerow as cover.
Orion knew this not because he could see them but because Night Domain painted the absence of them in perfect detail. The gap in ambient sound where sound should be. The slight displacement in the air temperature. The very specific shape of suppressed mana, like a candle flame cupped behind a hand, still visible if you were looking at the hand instead of the darkness around it.
He walked toward the manor's front step casually.
Like he was getting some air.
Like he had no idea.
Luna matched his pace on his left, and she was doing the thing she did when she was genuinely hunting, no tail movement, no sound, the clingy warmth completely gone and replaced with something that operated on a completely different frequency.
The three signatures adjusted when he stepped outside.
