They spread out quickly, searching through the rows, eyes lifting toward the gnarled branches. Samantha swept past the skeletal trees, her breaths sharp and ragged. She had to find him. He was close—she could feel it in her bones, humming like an electric current under her skin.
And then she saw it. Her breath caught. Perched on the sagging, mossy roof of the abandoned orchard shed was a massive eagle’s nest—rough, sprawling, built from thick branches and straw. It hulked there like a strange, living thing, perfectly positioned above the orchard.