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“Yes,” I agreed.

“Can you see a damn thing?” Brody prodded.

I shook my head, keeping my sword at the ready.

Anything. Anything could happen in these cursed woods, the fog so thick it stung against my skin. Think, Aren.

Because we were fighting two opponents. And something was… different. The first three times we entered the labyrinth, the illusions had never become real. Those wolves had been flesh and blood. Which meant something had changed.

That or…

We were closer to the exit.

We’d been in the thicket for longer stretches of time, but I didn’t think we’d ever covered so much ground running. Certainly hadn’t run so blindly—our fear of Balorath outweighing the fear of Koa’s wards.

Fear…

All great demons fed on it, and I had a feeling, based on what was revealed thus far, that the mentalist was much the same.

I turned, staring down at Mags, whose hollow eyes were trained on the ground, her feet barely stumbling along. They’d followed me. Repeatedly, against impossible odds, they’d followed me. Through the darkness, barreling through thorns and flames alike.

It’s that or running blind through the seventh level of hell, Rika had said.

Only… I’d never felt blind. Every shove forward had come with the certainty that I was pushing us toward safety. Deeper into the labyrinth because it was the lesser of two evils. Believing we’d survive until sunrise.

My hierarchy had followed me into certain death with the faith I’d get us through it more times than we could count.

Faith.

Faith in my feet, in my hands to lead us.

I blinked, peering into the dense fog as I remembered Adrastos’ prophecy—I was to rival the second horseman.

Images slammed through my mind—of a being made entirely of light, emanating only love and peace.

War and peace. Fear and faith. Moros and I were a balance, as all things must be. Koa was likely much the same as his successor.

“Do you trust me?” I breathed. I didn’t have to turn to feel them bristle.

Jason was the first to answer, “With my immortal soul, brother.”

“In this life and the next,” Brody added. Magnolia simply slipped her hand into mine, intertwining our fingers.

I knelt, smiling when she came with me. I pressed my palm into the cool soil, leaning my forehead against hers as I prayed.

I was a son of the king. No weapon formed against me could prosper. Not Balorath. Not the wolves. And not this goddamn thicket.

Our first three attempts had been studious—marking our path, memorizing the trunks of trees trying to ensure we weren’t repeating our steps, and still, we failed.

“Close your eyes,” I said, scanning the gray, ears straining for the distant thud of those wingbeats. Only the soft hiss of the breeze through the branches responded.

“What do you mean?” Mags prodded.

“Link up and close your eyes,” I repeated. “Trust me.”

I met those determined aquas for a beat before my gaze fell to her slender throat as it bobbed, but then she nodded and did as I’d asked, the others following suit.

I took the shield from Jason, bringing his hand to Mags’ free one. He peered at me through one skeptical eye, brow arched high.