Page 17

Relief flared, sharp and brief.

'Yes,' Blaidd sent at once. 'What's going on?'

There was a prolonged pause which strummed his nerves.

'I'll meet you at your house.'

The door creaked open under his hand.

Cold, stale air greeted him. An emptiness like many years ago.

"Fae?" he whispered, stepping inside.

No answer.

He dropped his pack and unbuckled his axes, laying them on the heavy oak table with a dull thud that echoed too loudly in the stillness. Panic stirred, sudden and fierce, clawing up his throat.

Had something happened to her?

"Fae?" he called again, louder now.

The front door was flung open behind him.

Maxen strode in, snow dusting to his hair and tunic, his face drawn tight with fury and something which made his heart seize with fear—regret.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Maxen demanded, the tension in his face bleeding into his voice.

Blaidd turned, blinking. He had never known his cousin to lose his cool. "I was…snowed in. The blizzard shifted. I lost the trail." He scrubbed a hand over his beard. "Why? What's happened?"

He turned away from Maxen, heart pounding. "Fae?" His voice rose, looking towards the stairs. "Fae!"

Noone answered.

His breath came faster. "Where is she?" he demanded with a raised voice, panic breaking through. "Where is she? Is she hurt?"

Maxen's jaw clenched but he only regarded him with cold eyes.

Footsteps followed him in—Eira first, pale and stiff, then Bowen. Rowena hovered behind them, uncertain now, no longer smiling.

Blaidd's gaze slid past them all, frantic.

"No," he said hoarsely. "No. Where is she?"

The answer came not in words, but in motion. Lisna burst through the door like a firestorm. She crossed the room in three strides and struck him before anyone could stop her.

The crack of the slap rang through the house. His head snapped to the side, vision blurring for a second.

"How dare you," Lisna choked. "How could you do this to her?"

Blaidd staggered, stunned. "Lisna… What—"

She broke then, sobbing, fists clenched. "It's my fault. I was so happy that I didn't see it. I didn't see what was happening to my twin."

Maxen caught her as her knees buckled. "Lisna," he said quietly. "The babe…"

"I failed her," she cried as she shook him off. "I failed her."

Then she straightened, her tears drying as if frozen in place.