“Take care of your horse.” There was no anger in Cheriour’s voice, but his tone left no room for argument. He’d given me an order. And he was used to having his orders obeyed.
It felt like a rock had plopped into my stomach.
Blood glistened on Liam’s chin. He made strangledhuck, hucksounds when he breathed. The kid was literallydying.
But it wasn’t like we could roll up to the nearest urgent care and ask for help.
“Addie!” Kaelan said. “The stream is over here.”
Sweat slicked my palms as I led Sacrifice deeper into the woods, following the sound of Kaelan’s voice. She walked docilely beside me, her head bobbing next to my shoulder. Until—
“Whoa!” I squealed when she flung herself backward, nearly ripping my arm out of its socket. “What gives—aw, fuck.”
A dark shadow slithered through the trees on my left side. A distinctlyhorse-shapedshadow.
Sacrifice gave a nervous, wet snort, spraying boogers all over my arm. I didn’t care. Because the shadow had pivoted to face me, its red eyes flashing through the trees.
The goddamn Púca.
“Shit.” My nails dug into my palms as I held onto the reins for dear life. Sacrifice kept going backward, shaking her head, desperately trying to get the bridle off.
The Púca flicked its ears toward me.
“Kaelan!” I screeched. “It’s—the—help!”
But by the time he circled back to get me, the Púca was gone.
I was officially being stalked. By a goddamn horse.
Fuck my luck.
12
Mutiny
Terrick, as it turned out, was…
“A hybrid,” he said.
“There’s no such thing,” I sniffed. The boy from Detha, Conn, had told us stories about them. Hybrids. Humans given Celestial powers. But Conn wasalwaystelling stories. Mama used to say he had ears sharper than a two-edged sword.
“That boy missesnothing,”she would groan whenever I’d repeat one of his tales. “Don’t mind what he says, love. Heeggaerates—exaggerates.”
“And yet, Iama hybrid.” Terrick winked and plucked a stone off the ground. “Watch.” He stretched his arm out, cupping the stone in the palm of his hand. It was a small rock, caked with dirt.
And then it vanished.
I gasped, reaching for his hand.
The stone was still there. I felt its jagged edges when I traced my fingers along Terrick’s palm, but I could notseeit.
“I’m a Concealer.” Terrick fluttered his fingers, and the rock reappeared.
I took the stone from him, pressing it against my nose to inspect every crevice and flake of dirt on its surface. “You’ve tricked me. Somehow,” I accused.
Terrick laughed. “I have not. It’s my ability. To Conceal; to make objects, or people, seem like they’ve vanished, even when they’re still in front of us. Here…” He grasped my hand and pressed it to the ground.
My fingers disappeared before my very eyes. They were still there, of course, but they’d adapted the same color and stringy texture as the brown grass. When I shifted my hand to grasp the stone, my skin changed again, this time appearing as gray and coarse as the rock.
