Page 38

I put everything back after taking a generous drink from the canister and prepare to walk on, keeping my head down with the hood covering against the wind.

The howl of the wind—at least, I hope it’s the wind.

It makes me think of the familiar cry from my dream, but I don’t feel anything. I feel nothing except the pain in my heart at leaving Birdy behind. The betrayal that Riven would be coming for me. One last look over my shoulder, and I’m far enough away to see the castle from an angle that I couldn’t see when I was escaping, and at the highest point, there’s a tower at the top. Candlelight glows through a window, revealing a small, pointed arch with wooden Xs that from here looks no bigger than a thumbnail.

Turns out what I thought was imaginary is unbelievably real. And once again, I’m swallowed up by the feeling that someone is watching me, and I’m covered in chills that have nothing to do with the frigid temperature—more like a feeling that comes from the inside out, like fear blossoming—and shivers dance along my skin in delicate warning.

With each step away from the castle, I feel relief, but I also feel an overwhelming sense of sadness because after haunting me my entire life, it should have held answers for me. Instead, it just gave me more questions. I feel something on my cheek and reach out to wipe away a tear that’s frozen at the corner of my eye. How I wish Doc was here, how I wish I could talk to him one last time.

But if Birdy was right, then this map will lead me to a place where I’ll find family that I never even knew I had.

The wind whips my cape around me, and I wish that I had gloves, but I’m thankful for what Birdy was able to pull together in such a short amount of time, especially the thick leggings that she asked me to put on underneath my dress. I almost feel like she had to be planning this since that first moment she popped her fingers through my cell. I hope someday I get the chance to thank her.

I can’t believe how much my life has changed in the past thirty-six hours.

I woke up from a nightmare only to be pulled into another one without even realizing.

Pulling the cape tighter around me, I curl my fingers up in the warm red fabric, thankful it’s lined in white fur.

An idea strikes me, and I pause long enough to remove the cape, my teeth chattering from the cold. I flip it around so the white lining is on the outside, camouflaging myself in the alabaster snow and birch trees.

The last thing I want is to be a red flag, waving in the wind, waiting for the huntsman to find me.

I try not to let the feeling of hopelessness overtake me as I move through the forest. The deeper I go, the more the light fades.

Reading the compass is useless. The needle spins round and round in circles, much like my sense of direction. I drop it back into the bag and sigh. My legs are aching, and I don’t know how much farther I can go.

Crack! A twig snaps, and I’m certain it’s approaching footsteps. I look for shelter, a place to hide. But the black-and-white trees are too skinny. Falling to my hands and knees, I scoot along on the snow-covered earth and forget all about my freezing fingers as I uncover a small clearing in the trees. It seems familiar, like the kind of place that deer would thatch or burrow. I climb in, hoping I can hide to rest for a few moments.

Feeling melancholy, I wrap my cape tightly around me, careful to conceal myself, leaving a small opening for me to breathe. The danger is gone, only silence now. But the shelter my little hideout provides is tempting me to stay, for just a minute, to rest. I’ve already come this far.

I pull at some of the evergreen branches. Sleep is beckoning, and if I can just close my eyes for a few hours, I’m certain I’ll be okay to continue first thing in the morning. When the sun rises, I’ll be able to see where I am and where I should be going.

An owl hoots in the distance, and I curl up inside the cape, hidden in my makeshift shelter. I must have had too much of the magical wine because I swear the branches of the thicket are reaching down over me, twisting together in silent dance, sealing me safely in its grasp. It’s like the forest is holding me tight and protecting me so I can sleep.

But every time I close my eyes, the hunter is there. And the tiredness I felt trudging through the forest in the endless cold and darkness can’t compare to the exhaustion I feel trying to outrun him in my sleep. Just when I give up on rest, my tired mind conjures the most beautiful images of a sparkling white forest alive with fawn and flora. A raven-haired girl, a striking contrast to her backdrop as she plays hide-and-seek among the trees, leaving a trail of red rose petals to find her way back home.

The coldness has seeped into my bones, but my skin feels feverish, especially my fingers. The shivering wakes me. And something shifts in the air. Like he’s near. That prickly feeling I get when I’m being watched. A buzzing along my skin, like static before a storm.

I open my eyes as black-and-white branches untangle around me like ribbons.

“Riven?” I croak in a hoarse voice. I’m not sure if it’s really him or my shadow. “Am I dreaming?”

Riven reaches for me, crouching down. His stormy eyes take no time adjusting to the night, pitch-black under the shelter of the trees. Maybe that’s because there’s a darkness lurking in him already. A darkness that has bled into me every night for years. Because what kind of person could have feelings for someone that wants to hunt them in order to kill them?

The queen desires my heart, but the huntsman wants it for himself. And I don’t know which would be worse… death or heartbreak.

Chapter 13

Adelaide

“What is this place?” I shiver into my captor’s warm embrace, hating how safe I feel in the arms of the hooded man who has once again found me. I wish I knew why my mind kept playing tricks on me. Why I’m so certain that this man isn’t a stranger at all, even though he continues to deny it.

I can barely make out the tiny wooden cabin, hidden with branches and overgrown evergreens covered in snow.

“A safe place to stop for the night or until the storm lets up enough for us to continue,” Riven says as he carries me over the threshold, placing me on my aching feet. I can’t stop the wince that escapes my lips as I put pressure on my leg and step into the unfamiliar space.

He lights a small lantern, and the room is cast into flickering shadows.