With all her strength, she clawed at the snow until she reached Kinlear. He was still warm, thanks to his runed cloak, and his heartbeat was steady against her fingertips. She collapsed against him, wrapping her arms around his body. Holding him close. The warmthof his cloak seemed to rush through her, thawing her enough to calm the chattering of her teeth.
But her head …
Her eyelids began to shut.
‘Get up,’said the wind again. ‘Ezer!’
She looked into the woods, trying to keep her eyes open. They were too heavy, and Kinlear was too warm, and …
The Speaking stone.
She dug her hand into her pocket, a relieved sob leaving her throat as she curled her fingers around it.
You’re late for training.Arawn’s voice filled her mind.Skipping out on me, Minder?
She was so tired it took everything in her to think back to him.
Arawn.Darkness slid across her vision.Help.
The last thing she saw before her eyes slid shut again, was Six’s enormous paw prints.
They led off, alone, into the woods.
30
When she opened her eyes, she was back in the labyrinth, standing outside the doors that held Styerra’s memories.
She unlocked another door, unsurprised to find herself in the library again.
It was just after sunset, by the look of the light just barely filtering in through the windows.
She found Styerra in the same spot she’d last seen her.
But this time …
Uncle Ervos was there.
Ezer almost couldn’t believe it was him, for she’d trusted his word all her life. When she begged for answers about her mother, he swore he didn’t know who she was.
A stranger, murdered by shadow wolves.
A woman without a name or a face.
But seeing him now, it was impossible to deny that Ervos not only knew her mother …
They had a deep bond.
She could see it in his eyes, as Ervos looked down at Styerra. He was younger and leaner but a giant for his age, nonetheless. That shock ofred hair, the emerald eyes and soft smile. There was no mistaking her uncle’s face.
Gods, she missed him terribly.
A fissure began in her heart, even as fury writhed inside her.
He lied.
All her life, Ervos had lied.
And yet here he was, before the shadow wolves had even arrived. Standing with Ezer’s mother. His hand rested on Styerra’s back, consoling her as she cried.
