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“I always thought those were beautiful.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, an’ from where I’m beholdin’…” Britta makes a rude snorting sound.
My reply is an outraged huff. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”
“Friends are supposed to be truthful.” Then she smiles. “An’ truth is, yer actually prettier than ever…in a tragic, wounded sort of way. No wonder Keita’s been moonin’ all these days.”
When I glance again at my uruni, he’s reached the others, but his eyes are still burning longingly across the distance. It’s all I can do not to shiver. Keita’s hands may no longer be able to reach me, but his gaze very much does.
Britta humphs when she sees it. “Must want to take care of ye an’ such,” she mutters under her breath. “Boys tend to get like that, ye know.”
“Do they now?” I ask wryly.
Britta only humphs in return.
Perhaps it’s the joy of bantering with her again. Or perhaps it’s that all the constant pain has dulled my senses. Either way, I don’t notice the strange heat stealing across the clearing. Don’t notice the unnerving stillness in the air.
Until I do. By then, it’s already too late.
Not just for me but for everyone.
2
The mist slithers over the broken rooftops like a silent predator, ghostly tendrils slipping quietly from one building to the next. Britta and I are almost halfway across the square before I finally notice it, gathering at the very edge of the city. The only reason I do is that tingles come over me suddenly, rolling waves I feel deep in my arms and shoulders. I’ve felt them enough times before to know what they are: a warning. Something divine is at play. And wherever there is divinity, there is danger.
I take in the mist, my eyes narrowing. Its edges are tinged an eerie purple-black, and it seems to be…searching. There’s a deliberateness to its movements, almost as if it’s being directed toward a specific target.
My companions.
I whirl toward them only to blink, startled. Britta has nearly reached the rest of the group now, even though we were walking together just moments earlier.
How is that possible?
It’s almost as if something has altered the distance between us. Propelled her closer to the others.
“Britta?” I call out, fear thumping in my chest.
There’s no reply. Britta doesn’t seem to notice me, much less the mist. It’s like she doesn’t see it at all, even though it’s creeping ever closer, black tendrils growing increasingly bloated as they slither down the ancient streets.
Worse, she’s not the only one who’s oblivious. All my other friends are so deeply focused on whatever White Hands is saying, they don’t even blink as the air slowly gets warmer and warmer, no doubt a consequence of the mist slowly rolling into the city.
Can’t they see it approaching?
Can’t they hear me calling to them?
“Britta!” I shout again, hurrying forward. “Keita!”
When there’s still no reply, I break into a run, ignoring the pain that jolts through me with every footstep. Every nerve in my body is alive, every fiber of my being shrieking with fear. This is a divine attack. It has to be. We’re here on this island, finally close to reaching Mother, and the gods, whichever group of them has sent the mist, want to stop us from doing so.
But how did they find me yet again? When I confronted the Gilded Ones, Ixa destroyed the ansetha necklace—the shackles they’d disguised as a gift, accidentally severing their hidden connection to my kelai. I also helped the others set fire to their mountain, giving the male deathshrieks who had been suffering underneath it the oblivion they’d so desperately called out for. Without their primary sources of food and power, the Gilded Ones’ abilities should be limited now—as should those of the Idugu, who are tethered to them.
Given their newfound weakness, the gods shouldn’t be able to see as easily across Otera as they once did, much less track me across it.
And yet, here the mist is.
“BRITTA!” I shout again, full-out sprinting now.
Sores rip open across my body, but I breathe past the pain. I have no other choice. If the gods take either Mother or my friends, Otera is lost. Because I would sacrifice anything for my family.
