“Don’t get them started,” Lark said with a groan as Rissa snickered, and a wicked grin broke out across Rose’s face.
Before I could respond, my nostrils flared with a new scent, and both Rissa and I raised our heads higher. Curiosity gleamed back at me from her dark eyes.
“You smell it, too?” I asked. Musty, sweet, and strong. The wind picked up speed as clouds covered the moon and stars.
She nodded with a smile. “Smells like a good time to go hunting.”
“Catch us something good.” My twin loved to hunt in a storm. The rain softened the underbrush, making it easier to stalk through the night, and it drew out small creatures for her to find.
Within seconds, her pupils elongated, her eyes turningyellow and her canines sharpening before she lunged into the forest, shifting midair.
“Where is she going?” Lark asked.
“Hunting. We’ll want food eventually, and she’s an excellent hunter in a storm?—”
“Wait, a storm?” Lark stopped in her tracks, her face ashen. “As in, rain?”
“Typically there’s rain, yes. What’s wrong, Lark?”
“We have to get Rissa back and head to the mountain.Now.” Lark looked up at the sky and the dark clouds moving overhead.
“What’s the matter with a little rain?” Rose asked. “Isn’t that a good thing? We need to find water soon anyway.”
“You don’t understand. This—this isn’tnormalrain.” Lark strode in front of us, gripping Horace’s arm and dragging him along. Her voice was frantic, pleading. “It’s part of the trial. I didn’t think it would happen so soon.”
Thunder rumbled overhead, softly at first, then growing into a powerfulboom. The birds and insects of the forest quieted their chirping and buzzing.
The hair on my arms raised.
“Calm down and tell us what’s so special about this rain,” Horace commanded, putting a hand on Lark’s shoulder.
She took a deep breath. “The rain, it—it’s poison. It takes your magic away.”
Lightning flashed, and the first drop of water landed on my skin.
The shrill whine of a fox rang through the air.
66
Rose
The instant the rain hit my forehead, a dullness swept from my head to my toes, like a blanket had been draped over my bones and pushed down tight. Pressure built along my spine, growing heavier and heavier until suddenly, it released, and a hollowness filled every cell of my body.
I was empty. Numb.
I’d never felt such hopelessness, such a loss of something sovital. As if my very essence had been snuffed out and ripped from me.
Leo staggered against a nearby tree as the rain descended faster. Rissa’s yowls filled the air, and he rasped out her name.
“We have to get under cover,” Lark insisted, shuddering against the rain pelting us.
“No, we have to find Rissa,” Leo countered. “I can’t smell her. I can’t—I can’t tell where she is.”
“She’s smart. She’ll know something is wrong and head toward the mountain to meet us.”
“Unless she’s wounded! If our magic is gone, she can’t heal. I’m not going to leave her out here.”
The rain came down harder and the wind howled through the trees. My tights and bodice clung to my skin, suffocating me as thewater continued to seep into my blood. We didn’t have time to argue—but Leo was right. How could we leave Rissa unprotected?
