Air rushes by, and then I slam into the ground.
Groaning, I sit up, one hand pressed to my throbbing head.
I’m dizzy, trying to gather my bearings. All I see is snow, snow, and more snow. No Luc, no sled, no bag full of magic.
Panic is a vise around my lungs.
“Luc!” I scream his name, the sound so frantic and terrified, I don’t recognize my own voice.
“Mira? Where are you?”
Never in my life have I been so grateful to hear my brother speak.
A relieved sigh shudders out of me. I brace my hands against the snow to push to my feet. “I’m over—”
Somethingcracks.
I screech as the world drops out from beneath me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
TEARS OF GLASS
A mound of snow cushions my fall. Which is fortunate.
The snow cushion in question is at the bottom of a pit. Which isunfortunate.
My head is spinning, ears ringing, and I’m winded from the crash.
It takes me several seconds to rise to my feet. The snow protected me from splattering to my death, but it’s powdery and slippery, making my quivering legs as unsteady as a newborn calf’s once I’m standing.
“Mira?Mira?” Luc’s distraught, disembodied voice comes from overhead. He sounds as if he’s on the verge of tears.
“I’m in here!” I try to shout, but it comes out as a low croak. I think I ripped my throat raw.
Footsteps crunch closer, until Luc’s head appears over the edge of this ice cave. His eyes are wild, but when he sees me, alive and upright, his shoulders loosen. “Mira. Stars in hell. I thought—” He shudders and stops himself. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” I peer around my surroundings. The cave I’ve fallen into is carved from jagged stone and coated in a thick layer of silvery-blue ice. It leaves the surface vertical and smooth. I’m not a skilled climber on the best of days, but even an expert would struggle to find any grip to pull themselves out.
I’m freezing. Even colder in this pit than when I was hurtlingdown the mountain on a sled. I reach within me, hoping to feel a glimmer of residual magic, but there’s none left.
My teeth are already starting to chatter. And my ass is sore from crashing into the ground.
“We’re not far from Widow’s Hall.” I choke back my fear and try to sound more assured than I feel. “You can make it the rest of the way. You’ll win and come back for me. Or you can send Sef.”
It’s a bad plan, and I know it. Even if everything goes perfectly with no delays, I’ll be trapped in here for at least another hour. With no magic or additional heat, I doubt I’d last that long, exposed like this.
Luc doesn’t respond right away. He studies me, gnawing the inside of his cheek, lost in thought. Finally, he brightens and blurts, “I have orange hair.” His tone is aggravatingly hopeful.
I’m so annoyed I temporarily forget my fear. I glower frostily up at him. “You know that isn’t how this works.” I cross my arms, both because I’m annoyed, and because it’s cold and I need to preserve what little warmth I have left. “Saying nonsense we both know is untrue won’t fuel my magic. Unless there’s something you’ve been keeping from me, this is a waste of time. You have to go.Now.” Simply speaking an untruth isn’t enough to stoke the flames of my magic. It requires deception—secrets. Unfortunately, Luc and I tell each other everything.
Well, at least he does.
Luc stares at me as though I’ve suggested he douse my body in alcohol and set me on fire. “I’m not leaving you here. Not only would you freeze to death, but I’d never be able to find this place again.”
Fair points. This high up, our only surroundings are snow and ice. There are no landmarks he could use to find me if heventured too far away. And it’s snowing. If it starts to pile up, I could be buried by the time anyone comes back for me.
My eyes well, but I blink rapidly to ward off tears. I’m not going to cry. Everything is going to be fine. It has to be. Doesn’t matter that I’m halfway frozen already. I’ll find a way out of this. I always do.
