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The two Wolven Mages said nothing, and for a while, I thought they would not respond. But after a moment, Alaric said, “Kenibore is sixty miles long.”

My jaw dropped. Sixty miles of a hidden realm that people could only access through a portal? How was any magic powerful enough to cloak this place from the fae lands? Had we been transported to a completely new realm that had undiscovered lands?

My thoughts whirred as Alaric nudged the horse into a gentle trot. As we passed other Mages along the road, we gained speed. I didn't realize how tightly I was clutching the horn until Alaric said, “Relax. Your anxiety is distressing to the horse.”

I glanced down. The horse turned its head this way and that, as if sensing danger nearby. I forced myself to relax, but then went rigid again as I realized I was falling against Alaric’s muscular chest. I tried to soften my frame without fully sinking backward onto him. Eventually, the horse seemed to calm and began to quicken its pace.

The trees blurred past me. My eyes flitted about wildly, trying to take in everything before it vanished. The gleaming moon filtered between the tree branches, illuminating the road before us. Two other Mages on horseback rode past us. The drumming hoofbeats seemed to pulse right through my body. Gradually, the trees thinned, and I caught a glimpse of a large body of water. At first, I thought it was the Alavern Lake, where we’d first passed through the portal.

But then I remembered Alaric had said near the cliffs.

We progressed farther down the road, and the trees completely tapered off. Soon, nothing remained but a vast field of wild grass and…

My eyes bulged as I took in the massive cliff overlooking an endless ocean. Miles and miles of roiling waves and churning waters. And the road beneath us was curving closer and closer to that edge.

I must have tensed, because Alaric’s voice was in my ear again. “What’s wrong?”

My eyes were glued to the cliff, imagining how my body would break when it hit the rough, unyielding waves below. “I—I’ve never seen the sea before,” I muttered. My voice was drowned out by the clopping hooves, but Alaric seemed to have no trouble hearing me.

“You won’t fall,” he said, his voice full of confidence.

I snorted, still staring in horror at the cliff’s edge. “Sure. I absolutely believe you.”

He made a slight humming sound, his chest vibrating behind me. I must have been going mad because it sounded like he was chuckling. As if he’d found my sarcasm amusing.

“Relax, Cerise,” he said. “We’re here.”

My gaze was wrenched from the terrifying ocean to a gleaming white building, about a courtyard’s length away from the cliff’s edge. The road ended here, as if the Isle intended to bring everyone to this exact spot. The Oracle was a dome-shaped building with pillars surrounding it, supporting an ornate marble roof with intricate carvings I couldn’t make out from here.

Reid was already dismounting in front of the building and tying the horse’s reins to one of the pillars. Alaric urged his horse forward, then easily slid off the mount. I tried to shift, but it seemed my limbs were frozen in place, my hands still clutching the saddle horn tight enough to leave grooves in my palms.

Then, Alaric’s warm hands were on me. I sucked in a sharp breath as he hoisted me off the saddle with ease. As if I weighed nothing at all.

Storms, he was strong.

He set me on the ground before him, and I gaped up at him. He peered down at me, gold eyes gleaming in the moonlight. His brows knitted together slightly. “Are you hurt?”

My mouth snapped shut, and I cleared my throat. “No.”

He nodded stiffly, then gestured to the Oracle. “Let’s get this over with.”

I stared at the Oracle with dread curdling in my stomach. A large rectangular opening stood in the center of the building, directly in the middle of the pillars. No door—just a gaping, shadowy maw waiting to devour me. Reid was already striding toward it.

Squaring my shoulders, I took a deep breath and followed him. Alaric trailed behind me, shepherding me toward the strange and ominous sacred building that would determine my fate.

This was it. We would enter the Oracle and use the truth spell. Either the Wolven Mages would discover I had committed no crime…

Or the spell would condemn me, regardless of my innocence.

One way or another, this would end here.

Thirteen

THE WOLF

The witch’s fear was so potent it rolled off her in powerful waves, far more pungent than the stench of the prison cell still clinging to her skin, or even the sharp clove smell of her magic.

She was petrified.