Flashback ( PDFDrive )

Sophie wasn’t a fan either. There were too many scraggly, creaking
branches. Too many places to hide. Too many twisted shapes playing
tricks on her eyes.
She had to force herself to stay still as she sat next to Fitz on the
mossy log. But her skin kept prickling and she couldn’t help glancing
over her shoulder every few minutes. And the longer they sat there,
the more her senses seemed to heighten, until every tiny rustle or
crackle morphed into proof that they weren’t alone.
“This place is giving me the creeps,” Fitz whispered.
“Me too.” And Sophie wasn’t sure if she was relieved or extra
worried now that she knew Fitz was picking up on the same unsettling
vibe. “I keep telling myself I’m just being paranoid because this is our
first time since the attack being somewhere that doesn’t have a billion
goblins marching around. But . . . it feels like someone’s watching us,
doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Fitz whispered back.
“Tarina would’ve found them by now, though, wouldn’t she?”
Sophie asked, trying to stay rational.
“You’d think,” Fitz agreed.
But Tarina had been gone a pretty long time.
And Sophie had no idea how strong trollish senses were—not that
it necessarily mattered. Grizel and Sandor hadn’t detected the
Neverseen that day in the desert.
Or Tarina could be the presence that she and Fitz were both feeling.
Or it could be Nubiti. Sophie wasn’t sure how closely her dwarven
bodyguard was tailing her, but . . . maybe she surfaced from time to
time to check on certain things.