“Where are we, anyway?” Julio asks.
“Cherokee National Forest,” I answer. “About an hour outside Knoxville, I think.”
“Over here!” Jack calls. We scoop up our packs, following his scent to a grassy clearing where he’s already busy cracking branches and twigs, stacking them inside a ring of stones. Julio and I unpack two of the pup tents Boreas stowed with our camping supplies on the boat. It’s full dark by the time we’ve assembled them and organized our makeshift camp.
Amber hovers a few feet away, watching as Jack pulls a flint from his pocket. “Let me do it,” she says impatiently.
“I’ve got it.” He strikes the flint over and over, failing to catch a spark. “You’re still healing.”
“I’m fine.” Julio and I both glance up at the sharp edge in her tone. She’s been guarded around Jack since we woke up this morning. There’s a frostiness between them that wasn’t there before.
Jack continues beating up the flint. “You shouldn’t waste your energy.”
“I said I’m fine!” A white-hot flame ignites in her hand. Jack goes rigid, wary as it grows.
I tap a root with my mind, prepared to stop her if I have to. Julio gives me a warning look, clearly as confused as I am.
Amber circles the stones, waiting until Jack slowly backs away before tossing her flame into the ring. The kindling is dry. It catches almost immediately, popping and throwing sparks.
“You haven’t told them, have you?” Amber lowers herself to theground in front of the crackling fire as it smokes, stretching her injured leg in front of her.
“Told us what?” Julio asks, casting suspicious looks between them.
“About Jack’s little experiment at the cabin.”
A cold wind gusts over the fire. It flares as Jack jabs a finger toward Julio. “That experiment saved his life!”
“And it almost took mine! Don’t spoon-feed me some bullshit line about teamwork and trust, and how we need each other to survive. Yesterday, you proved the only person you need is you.”
“That’s not true!”
“You held a knife to my throat!”
“I wasn’t myself!”
“And if you hadn’t come to your senses, the rest of us would have been nothing more than disposable batteries to you!”
Jack’s eyes glaze white through the billowing smoke.
“Does someone want to tell me what the hell happened last night?” Julio’s tone is murderous.
Lightning flashes in the distance, and I step between Julio and Jack as the wind picks up a humid undertone. “Everyone calm down before you draw attention we don’t need. Whatever happened, we all survived. That’s all that matters now.”
“Is it?” Amber asks.
Jack turns from the fire. Amber watches him, glaring at his back as if she’d like to put a knife into it.
“Did you know anything about this?” Julio asks me.
I shake my head, massaging the faint pink welts on my arms as I struggle to recall what happened after Julio was stabbed. All I rememberwas being knocked off my feet by a ball of fire, the rage and desperation I felt. I remember the Autumn boy swinging from the tree, flailing and tearing at my vine. And the feel of Julio’s bloody, cooling fingers. I remember Jack dropping beside me, staring down at me through clouded eyes as if he wasn’t entirely sure who I was.
Or whohewas...
“What happened?” I hear myself ask.
He bows his head. When he finally answers, his voice is choked with emotion. “You were dying, and there wasn’t anything I could do to help you. I couldn’t...” He turns to me. Clenches his teeth to keep the words from trembling. “I couldn’t lose you. Névé couldn’t be saved. She was almost gone. Her magic was already leaving her. And something Lyon said gave me an idea.”
“You never did tell us how Lyon knew where we were.” Julio practically spits the professor’s name. “Or how you knew those Seasons were coming.”
