Then everything tilted. The river-floor vanished. The world inverted, and water rushed in to meet me.
I was falling—no,rising—the current pushing me up so violently it ripped the breath from my lungs. I flailed blindly and caught Rydian’s hand just before light exploded.
I broke the surface gasping.
The air on my face was bitterly cold, the water even colder. Light streaked weakly across the sky. For a second, I just treaded water, dizzy with the sudden weight of gravity.
Rydian swam to the shore first, boots dragging through mud as he hauled himself onto solid ground. I followed, shivering and forcing my limbs to move. The others climbed out one by one around me, coughing and swearing and blinking through the morning mist.
Keres looked back toward the river, whose surface rippled innocently enough. “Next time, we’re taking a boat.”
“Next time?” Slade echoed, shaking out his hair. “So, you’re saying you’d go back?”
“Not if your life depended on it,” she told him.
Daegel collapsed onto the bank, dripping and grim. “I hate the river.”
Thorne smirked. “That’s rich, coming from a man who bathes more than any of us.”
“That’s not saying much in this group,” Daegel told him, and Slade hooted.
The banter eased something tight in my chest.
Then I saw movement ahead.
Figures emerging from the mist. Half a dozen at first, then more. Heavily cloaked, utterly silent. Weapons at their sides.
Thorne’s hand went to his sword. Keres mirrored him instantly.
“Hold,” Rydian said sharply.
The strangers didn’t raise their blades. The one in front lowered her hood.
My breath caught. “Vanya?”
The Autumn fae maid smiled—familiar, warm, and, as always, polite. “My lady.” She dipped into a curtsy.
I didn’t think. I just ran across the muddy bank and hugged her, waterlogged limbs and all.
“I thought I wouldn’t see you again,” I said against her shoulder.
“As did I,” she said, hugging me quickly before stepping back with flushed cheeks.
Behind her, more of them appeared—pale, gray-cloaked, faces I half-recognized from my short time in Grey Oak. Not enemies. Not a trap. For once, somethinggood.
Rydian shook hands with a few of the men. So did Daegel and Slade, and I realized these men had served together, worked together. These were true allies.
“How did you know we’d be here?” Rydian asked.
Vanya’s smile dimmed. “We heard the Winter Queen had gathered forces along her borders. We guessed you’d follow.”
Keres lowered her weapon but didn’t sheathe it. “Guessing’s a dangerous habit. Then again, these are dangerous times.”
The air shifted again before I could answer. A shadow detached from the Withered’s ranks and stepped forward. Gold embroidery on forest-green. A familiar face, eyes ringed in dark circles.
Callan.
The others reacted instantly—swords half-drawn, Keres already moving to block my side. Daegel cast a shadow-shield.
