“We only found this place because of the beanstalk,” I point out. “How would any of them hear about it, if the pool is even real?”
Odette shakes a finger at me, closing the book. “Why wouldn’t it be? The fountain in Tressa was real, right? And I saw with my own eyes that there’s a looking glass beneath Swan Lake. It reacted to my blood. Considering the Mad Queen saw us in the reflection,andthat Lake Wonderland is listed in the book, it’s safe to assume that the bit about there being a looking glass in Wonderland is real, too. So why wouldn’t this be?”
She has a point. I just don’t know what good it will do for us. Seeing anything is great, but to only have one chance, we’d have to know what we’re seeking before we find the pool.
“We should look for it. I groan, eyeing the shack again. Still no sign of the giant. “If we’re careful I think we can slip past him. I don’t believe we should risk any magic in case it alerts him.”
“Agreed,” Odette says, handing me back the book. I carefully drop it into the shadows again. There’s no sign that the giant’s noticed. “How do you think it ties in with him?”
“I have no idea. This trip already feels unnatural.”
We get up without another word, and Odette nods at me to lead. It’s the same pattern we’ve followed since coming back here, and I skate a large circle around the home so we can keep our eyes peeled.
The last time I crossed a being this size, the ground shook. In theory, if it’s out and about, we should have a warning before anything happens.
For a few minutes, as we cross the wide field and make our way along the outskirts, Odette stays quiet. Once the shack is in the distance, and we’re beginning to walk through a space with short clouds that remind me of bushes, she starts talking all over again. “What do we do if we find it?”
“Let’s just find it first,” I reply.
“I’m serious, Zarev. We can’t waste a gift like that. That magic could be used by anyone, for anything. Maybe there’s a reason it’s hidden up here.”
“Or it’s all a rumor, and we’re walking around for nothing,” I reply dryly. “Did the book mention a location?”
“No–”
“Then let’s assume this is all a big dream and there’s no hard proof,” I say, stepping to one side. She falls into step with me as we continue. We’ve moved far enough from the shack that I’m not completely paranoid about turning my back. “We’ll keep looking, but I’m not confident we’ll find this pool.”
“Such a skeptic,” Odette replies, shaking her head. “I’m serious, you might be worse than Ban. At least he’s snarky.”
“I can be snarky.”
She laughs. “No, you’re grumpy. It’s not the same thing.” I shoot her a glare, but she doesn’t stop.
The further we get, the less diverse the landscape becomes. It’s beginning to shift back to the hazy clouds we found when we first arrived up here, and Odette’s becoming disenchanted as we walk.
“I’m disappointed to admit that I wanted to find it,” she says with a sigh, pivoting to look around. It didn’t take us long to leave behind the shack and the field of debris. Now that we’re back in the cloudy landscape, it’s almost dreary. These aren’tthe puffy white clouds from before, but that’s one of the only differences. “I wish we could find it. It could be useful.”
Beside us, I swear, the clouds shift apart.
“Did you see that?” she hisses.
“Yup.” I reach into the shadows again, drawing out my scythe, and ignore her disapproving look. “Let’s tread cautiously.”
“Think it’s the giant?” she snaps. “Come on, Zarev. Clouds aren’t a threat.”
“That we know of.”
She brushes past me, and I follow in her wake. The dreary gray clouds continue as we start heading what Ithinkis west, the haziness around us making it impossible to see ahead.
Glancing back, I find that we aren’t in the loop like we were near the beanstalk. We’re moving away from the beaten path, which might be a very, very bad idea.
“Zarev.”
I almost crash into Odette. She’s stopped moving, one hand stretched out behind her like she knew she needed to stall me.
Ahead of us, there’s a puddle. It seems to be the endpoint for a stream, and I’m still stuck on the fact that there’s pooling water up here when she grips my wrist tightly.
Snapping my gaze up, I see what she does. “A lake.”
