But behind us, the rumble of hooves grows louder, mixed with grunts and snarls. It’s unnatural. Terror clamps my ribs. How can we possibly outrun death?
“I will try to distract them,” Selene says. “You two keep going.”
Wilder glances at me, determination set in his eyes. I force myself to look away. We’ve endured worse—we can do this. I have to believe it.
Selene turns back toward the castle. I send a prayer to whatever gods are listening to keep her safe. If we make it out, I swear I will find a way to free all the souls stuck here. They don’t deserve to suffer for eternity.
We burst from the trees, lunging for the water.
Wilder kicks his dress shoes off. “You’ll swim faster without them,” he pants, but my shoes are already soaked. I stagger into the shallows. Water sloshes around my ankles, then my knees.
The water is chillier than I remember. My legs grow heavy; fear drags at my every step.
“Leigh, hurry,” Wilder calls. He’s supporting the majority of my weight, holding me around my waist as the ground disappears beneath us. I swim, but my body feels impossibly heavy, as if invisible shackles are attached to my feet.
“I’m trying.”
Tears sting my eyes, but still, I claw forward through the water, paddling hard toward the center of the lake. Each stroke gets me no closer to the gate.
Behind us, Dullahan rangers on monstrous black steeds burst out of the trees, their burning gazes fixed directly on me.
Kosac appears a moment later, icy fury radiating like seismic waves we can feel even from this distance. The ground shudders with his rage, but it hardly matters now; if he wants me, he’ll have to get wet. I flail, struggling to stay afloat as Wilder and I desperately push farther toward the rift, but the harder I swim, the less distance I cover. That invisible force pulls at me—unyielding—steadfast in not letting me go.
“Leigh, stop,” Kosac rumbles.
The world seems to freeze; even the harpies overhead vanish from the sky.
I gasp for air and force myself to keep treading water. “To hell with that,” I spit out.
“You feel it, don’t you?” Kosac calls out. “This realm owns you now—just as I do. My duty is to this world. As my prisoner, your only duty is to me.”
“Don’t listen.” Panic consumes Wilder’s expression. “He’ll say anything to keep you here.”
I keep swimming, but dread settles deep in my bones. I can feel it, a force dragging me under, turning every stroke to lead and every breath into a battle. If Wilder weren’t at my side, I’d be underwater already.
“You no longer have a claim to the living,” Kosac says. “You must stay.”
Wilder kicks harder. “What the hell is he talking about?”
Kosac’s voice is flat. “She gave up her soul to save Aradia. She’s bound here.”
“But she’s not dead; she has a whole life ahead of her.”
My tears mix with murky lake water. “Just let me leave,” I shout, my voice cracked and raw. “I don’t belong here! Mysouldoesn’t belong here.”
My home, my friends, my family, and my kingdom still need me. There’s a life waiting with Wilder, one I’m eager to live. I want to get married, have children, and grow old with the person I love.
Kosac doesn’t flinch. “It doesn’t work that way. Besides, nothing delights me more than infuriating the gods.” His voice drops to an unforgiving tone. “If you run from here without your soul, you won’t last among the living. You’ll wither away, piece by piece, until nothing of you remains.”
I shake my head, the truth sinking in like stones. He can’t be serious. Can he?
“Leigh, keep moving, don’t listen to him,” Wilder urges, tugging me. “He’s bluffing.”
I press my teeth into my trembling bottom lip. “He’s not. I thought we could both get out—that I’d have time to fix this. But Kosac won’t let me leave, and if he’s right—if I force it, maybe I really will disappear. Either way, he wins.”
Leigh, please, Wilder urges telepathically.For me.
I look at Wilder, forcing calm into my voice. “You have to go. Find Ravi, close the rift. Aradia’s begging the gods for mercy.There’s a chance they’ll listen.” My voice trembles, but I force conviction into it. “If I run now, and Kosac’s right, I’ll fade away. By doing that, I’m helping no one.” Wilder’s face hardens in disbelief. “I swear I’m not giving up, not on us. That’s a promise.”
