Page 77 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

“That is the lake we call the Little Sea. There are four islands in the center of it. You say you saw a fifth in this vision?”

“I believe it’s what I’ve heard called the Vanishing Isle. It will appear in your Little Sea on the night of the next new moon and disappear again come morning.” Lorelei met her eyes. “You’re certain that’s where it is? We only have one chance at this.”

Adelheid frowned as she studied the drawing. “Yes. It’s a very accurate likeness. I’ve only been once before, but it’s not a sight one forgets easily. All those islands are completely uninhabited.”

Sylvia, evidently unable to resist the promise of danger, perked up. “Why is that?”

“Because the Little Sea is crawling with nixies and shipwrecks. Going there is a death wish.”

Lorelei could not have conjured a worse possible location if she tried. “Oh, perfect. Just perfect.”

Heike laughed. At first, it was soft. But once she got going, she couldn’t stop. She doubled over in full, hiccupping guffaws. “God, you must think we’re stupid.”

Lorelei bristled. “Your point being?”

“Let me make sure I understand this. You somehow managed to make your way through an enchanted forest with no equipment. You conveniently found Ludwig along the way to the summit, where you had a mystical vision of where the Ursprung is. And it just so happens to be on the other side of the country. Is that right?”

When she laid it out like that, it did sound difficult to believe. “That’s correct.”

The sulfuric glint in Heike’s eyes kindled brighter. Lorelei recognized this kind of hateful desperation well by now. In the face of uncertainty and terror, the one thing that could be counted on was the wickedness of a Yeva. “You reallyhavelearned how to spin a fairy tale, you snake.”

“Bite your tongue!” Sylvia had drawn herself up, as though she could gain another six inches of height by sheer force of will. Lorelei could not look away from the set of her jaw, the broad line of her shoulders. Sylvia stoked into a righteous fury was something to behold.

“Aw,” Heike cooed. “Did I strike a nerve?”

“Enough.” Adelheid rose to her full height and glared down at Heike. “This behavior is beneath you.”

“You cannot be serious!” Heike had the gall to sound betrayed. “Do you believe her?”

“She has never been to the Little Sea. Even if Sylvia described it perfectly, she could not have drawn it so accurately.”

“What do you suggest?” Johann asked coldly. “We return to him with nothing?”

“Of course not!”

“Or perhaps lie to him?” Johann continued, stalking in a slow circle around her. His fingers twitched toward the handle of his saber. “Present him with this fake Albisch spring?”

Heike’s eyes went round with feigned hurt. “Heavens, no. I’m not suggesting we do anythingseditious.” Her voice hardened. “Now, are you going to get your hand off your sword, or will I have to make your handler command you?”

His lip curled, but he retreated a few paces away from the fire. Even Adelheid regarded her warily. “This is for the greater good, Heike. It is worth the risk.”

“Right. The greater good. Our promise. His stupid dream!” The bitterness sharpened with every word. Then, she drew in a shuddering breath and wrapped her arms around herself. For a moment, Lorelei almost believed her sadness was real.Almost.

“I’m so tired of this,” Heike murmured. “Haven’t we done enough? We can try again, can’t we? I just want to go home. Don’t you want to go home, Addie?”

“Home.” Adelheid’s eyes fluttered closed. Lorelei could feel the turn of her thoughts as if they were her own. Blood in the soil. Smoke in the air. The healing, tender fields trampled under soldiers’ boots once again. “And if Wilhelm cannot maintain power while we prepare to set out again? Where will my home be at the end of that?”

Heike clasped Adelheid’s wrist and pulled her hand into her lap. “With me.”

Adelheid pulled her hand from Heike’s. When she spoke again, it was with a terrible chill. “Sometimes, you sound just like him.”

Heike blinked back unshed tears. Just as quickly as she’d put on airs of plaintive desperation, she tossed them aside. A manipulator to the end. “And if we press forward, another one of us will die!”

Lorelei almost laughed. Was that a promise?

Adelheid composed herself into perfect neutrality once more. With her hair shining golden in the soft moonlight and her broad shoulders determinedly set, she looked like a statue of a warrior-queen stirred to life. “It is your decision, Lorelei.”

Lorelei swept her gaze over the group. The firelight cast their faces in harsh shadow, and their haunted eyes were locked on her. She felt as though they were standing in the middle of a lake in midwinter. The ice beneath their feet was crackling, and she didn’t know how the fault lines would divide them. All she knew for certain was that all of them would be pitted against one another until the bitter end.