They can’t.
Aside from the village watch, everyone is asleep at this dawning hour, windows shuttered in anticipation of the storm. I quickly pass by the slanted walls of the slate-faced houses, each wooden door not even a stone’s throw apart from one another. Yet the sizes of the homes themselves are deceiving since their depth is made up within the recesses of the mountain. Prickled lace vines stretch up from craggy splits in the rock floor and spider web around the doors and windows, their white-skinned berries still hanging in clumps from their stems.
The stone beneath my feet is slick with the new rain, so I take measured steps. I don’t want to slip with Auren in my arms, but I still try to go as fast as I can, boots digging into every step.
There are a few hardy evergreen trees clinging to life along the path, their frosted limbs carrying the weight of the endless cold and giving me some reprieve from the rain as I tuck Auren closer against my chest.
When I get to the bend in the path, I follow the curve of the mountain where the homes end, leaving the rock face bare save for the snow frozen against it. Above, the mountainside curls like a riptide, creating a giant, protective awning. A sheet of frozen rain drips down from it like a thin waterfall, and I hesitate, trying to think of a better way to get Auren through without soaking her completely.
“Here, let me.”
My arms automatically tighten around Auren, and I whip around at the sound of my brother’s voice. “What are you doing here?”
Ryatt stalks through the rain and, without a word, removes his cloak and flings it over both our heads to block the downpour. I have a feeling he does it more for Auren’s sake than mine. We duck beneath the sheet of rainwater as quickly as we can, and once we pass beneath the rock shelf, we’re blessedly out of the storm and into the mountain’s cave.
“Thanks,” I mutter.
Ryatt lowers his arms and brings the cloak down again but doesn’t bother to put it back on.
Now encased in the shadows of the cave, it would be completely pitch-black if it weren’t for the soft blue glow that comes from the fluorescent veins that run through the belly of the mountain. These cerulean streaks branch off in every direction, running through the walls, floor, and ceiling, while colorless beetles cling to their surface to nibble on their sediment. Stalactites reach down from the ceiling, pointing at us in accusation.
“So? You going to tell me what you’re doing here?” I ask as we walk, my voice echoing bleakly.
“Did you really think I wasn’t going to come?” Ryatt’s hands clench around his cloak in bitter twists. “I wanted to come here the moment Midas issued his threats, and you know it, so you can just save your fucking commands,” he snaps, jaw locked tight.
I feel my own teeth grind in response. I probably have no right to be frustrated with him, because I understand his anger, and yet, I am. As he often is with me.
“Fine,” I relent. I’m too cold and exhausted to argue. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. But I need to get her warm and dry.”
He glances at Auren from the corner of his eyes. “Fucking storm had to hit tonight of all nights.”
My brother and I walk in tense silence through the cave. Without even trying, our strides match, our shoulders at the same height, our clothes nearly identical. When my fae nature isn’t out, we could pass for twins, a fact that I’ve used to my advantage many, many times.
Despite the fact that we always effortlessly fall into stride with one another, we always seem to step on each other’s toes.
I would die for Ryatt, and he’s given up a lot to be at my side, but most days, we’d gladly pummel each other.
Tonight is no different.
We eat up the rest of the distance, and then, we’re here, at our house in the cave, descended in blue shadows with stalagmites like standing guards.
The Grotto.
“Home sweet home,” Ryatt mutters.
Something sours in my stomach. “Yeah. Home sweet home.”
CHAPTER 5
SLADE
Age 8
“Slade!”
I look down at Ryatt, his chubby legs scrabbling as he tries and fails to climb up the tree after me. I knew he was going to try to follow me up here. But every time he sees that he can’t, he starts whining like a baby, scaring all the birds away until I come down.
“Slade!”
