“It’s the best lead we have.”
She gestured at the surrounding forest. “Well, finding it might take a while.”
“We need Gemma.” I strode past her to kneel in a mossy patch of earth that was free of vines. I closed my eyes and placed my palms against the soil.
“What are you doing?” Posey asked.
“Trying to find her.”
“You can do that?”
Honestly, I didn’t know. But I could still feel the cool embrace of Gemma’s glamour against my skin, disguising my true nature from Olden eyes. Not only did that mean she was still alive, it could, I hoped, act as a tether connecting us, much as we Roses were bound to the Warden and could use that link to guide us home from anywhere in either world.
I concentrated on the memory of us at the safe house, when Gemma had encased me in the glamour. It had felt like stepping through a soft sheet of rain, and recalling the memory made it come alive in my mind. I could almost smell the dying embers in the safe house’s hearth. I could almost feel my sister’s touch—
There.There she was.
My eyes snapped open. “I found her. We’ll have to run fast.”
“I know of no other way,” Posey replied.
“Cover me.”
Then, together, we bolted.
I followed the feeling of my sister like a hound stalking a scent. As the snow fell ever more thickly and the trees grew fatter and closer, I heard the twang of shot arrows, the hard strikes of spears impaling bark. I didn’t stop to look, trusting Posey to protect me. From a distance came a familiar whooping battle cry—Danesh. Grinning, charged with fresh relief, I scrambled up rocky ridges slick with fresh ice, tore through tangles of sticky ferns that must have been twelve feet tall.
Somewhere behind me, Posey grunted in pain.
“Keep going!” she shouted.
I gritted my teeth and obeyed, and then, finally, I saw her.
Gemma was on her hands and knees in the dirt, huddled behind a shield of uprooted trees. Talan, bow and arrow in hand, stood over her. I ducked to join them just as he let loose a thick black arrow. It zipped through the forest and hit something hard—a fae? A forest creature? A scream rang out, inhuman and furious, and something huge crashed toward us through the trees.
“Don’t claim me,” I warned them. “Not yet.”
“I’m sending out waves of confusion to disorient them,” Talan muttered tensely, his body radiating scorching heat as he flooded the forest with empathic power. “But I won’t be able to do it for much longer. There are four of them, and they’re quite strong.”
“Fae?”
“And their hounds,” Posey growled, peering past the shield of trees. Her shoulder glistened bright green.
“Gemma?” I took my sister’s face in my hands and nearly recoiled. She was burning up, sweat slicked her skin, and her lips had gone white. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes.” She offered me a faint smile. “It’s just…the magic here, it’s everywhere, and it burns. It’s hard to focus. I just need a moment.”
My heart ached to see her like this, but I swallowed hard against the feeling. I didn’t have time for heartache.
“Listen carefully,” I told her. “The tree that never sleeps. Remember?”
Gemma nodded, bleary-eyed. “An unlocked door that never opens.”
“I need you to find it. Before anyone claims me to end the hunt, wehaveto retrieve the key. Otherwise Ifanna could break the accord and betray us.”
“Is that possible?” Gemma whispered.
“Posey seems to think Ifanna might risk it. And,” I added, “whatever you do, don’t let the glamours fall. That magic is how I found you. It’s how I’ll find you again. Don’t worry about protecting Talan. Posey will go with the two of you.”
