“But where are we?” Garrick gazed ahead. “Where in the hells are we?”
I followed his gaze up to the suns hanging in the sky. Both of them ringed and wrong.
The others did the same, scanning the horizon, taking in the land around us. It was instinctive—necessary. We’d just been torn through a portal and dropped into the unknown.
But the unease that settled over their faces told me everything.
They didn’t recognize this place.
They truly didn’t know where we were.
“Guys,” I said, my voice tight, “you seriously have no idea where we are?”
In unison, they shook their heads.
Bastian rose, turning slowly as he took in more of our surroundings, his posture shifting into something alert and protective. I followed his line of sight.
We were surrounded by still water, a bluish-gray sea where the waves didn’t move, as if the ocean had been frozen mid-breath. There was no tide, no foam, no sound beyond a hush that felt unnatural.
Behind us, a thicket of trees crowded close, dark and dense, their branches tangled like they were trying to hide something.
Water lay in every direction.
Maybe we were on an island.
But sitting here beneath twin suns and that dead, unmoving sea, I couldn’t be certain of anything.
“I think we need to find shelter,” Bastian suggested. “Once we’ve got cover, we can start looking for herbs to make a poultice.”
“I agree,” Arielle said. Her gaze dropped to Wolfe, urgency tightening her expression.
“We’ll carry him,” Alaric assured her, then he and Garrick moved in on either side of Wolfe.
They slid their arms around him, securing his weight, and hoisted him up with careful strength.
The moment Wolfe rose, his wings—those immense shadows that had wrapped around me—faded. They just vanished as if they’d never existed, leaving no mark behind. Just the thin air and the sickening reminder of how weak he was.
“Come on,” Alaric muttered, adjusting his grip. Then he tipped his chin toward a narrow opening in the trees. “We head that way.”
We moved toward the trees slowly, carefully.
Arielle found her way back to my side and looked me over, her gaze searching my face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” I managed, though my voice sounded weary. “Just… dazed. Shaken.”
My eyes drifted to Wolfe, to his limp body suspended between Alaric and Garrick as they carried him forward.
“But… Wolfe.” Worry tightened my throat.
Arielle squeezed my hand, grounding me. “I just need to work on healing him. This was the best we could do.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you saved him.Yousaved him.”
My magic.
I’d slowed time.
