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Faster than was wise, hunger won out over common sense, and I popped a berry into my mouth. “Oh my gods,” I moaned, the rich, sweet-sour flavor drenching my tongue. I popped them into my mouth by the handful until I heard Zor’s stern voice in my head, telling me toslow down, Anaria, before you make yourself sick,and I filled my pockets for later.
I peeked at my side and saw the knife wound had closed enough it stopped bleeding. My arm…was scabbing over, too.
“Thank you.” I wiped my face and cast my gaze around the dark, silent forest, wondering how I was supposed to find the residents of Tempeste.
The Howlers and Cave Weavers, I suspected, would find me.
I was drenched in blood and the smell would carry.
But stars glowed at the ends of my fingers, just like the line of glow bugs leading deeper into the forest. “Okay, so I go this way?” I asked softly, wondering if I was going mad talking to the forest.
Then I was following those dancing lights, remembering a terror-filled night when Solok had come to Varitus and changed my life forever, until I ended up in an encampment. Makeshift tents, small, guttering fires, and exhausted Fae that eyed me warily as I approached, my palms held up before me in what I hoped was a universal sign ofplease do not kill me.
Several of the men moved shoulder to shoulder, scanning me for weapons. I kept my hands raised, tamping down my magic. Shopkeepers, most of them, from the lowest levels of the city. A handful of royals, dressed the part. One family in ruined, tattered finery, huddled off to the side. I recognized them as part of the Fae King’s court.
One woman finally approached, wearing her distrust like a shield, a line of jeweled earrings decorating her arched ears. Nothing but suspicion on her face. No wonder, since I was a blood-soaked mess dressed in male clothing.
“You and your companions held off the Reapers long enough for us to escape.” Her eyes narrowed to slits, as if she was trying to work out a puzzle. “Yet you are the Fae King’s daughter.”
“I am.” Her gaze hardened, violence flashing there. But there was no sense in lying. “He’s dead now, thank the gods. How many got out of the city alive?”
“This is all. Though if not for you, none of us would be here.” She swept her hand across the hastily erected tents and tiny, pitiful fires. “But we don’t know where to go next.”
I didn’t know what to say. Except for an ocean to the south, and the Cassiopian silver mines, I didn’t know of any towns and villages.
But west took them into Descendant land, and east…straight to the Shadow King. Who, I had a feeling, wouldn’t be a kind host to his brother’s people. But I never got the chance to explain any of this.
A roar shook the woods, the trees, everything going silent in its wake, everyone crouching low as if that might save them. From the hunger in that wild, feral roar, I already knew hiding wouldn’t do them any good.
“Howlers,” she murmured, stark fear replaced by a spark of hope. “Is that why you’ve come?”
“It is.” I scanned the trees, wishing I had Zorander’s keen eyes beside me, or Raziel’s magic, or Tavion’s wolf. But I had none of them. Only me, against whatever was out there hunting these people.
Only me, and I would not let them down.
The guttural roar echoed again, along with a sharp, insectile clicking beneath the crashing of undergrowth as something enormous charged through the forest toward us.
“Stay here,” I told her. “Stick together. Do you have any swords or knives?” I didn’t know why I bothered. Knives would do nothing against what was coming, but sometimes courage was found in the smallest of things.
“A few.” She bit her lip so hard she drew blood. “Almost none.”
“Get your weapons together and place your strongest men along the edge, women and children in the center.” I nodded to the encampment where people were milling around in a panic. “Put out those fires; no sense in giving these creatures any help in finding you.”
Then I plunged into the forest toward the sound.
Glow bugs lit a path through the pitch darkness with dancing yellow-green light, far too merry for what lay ahead. I shook out my aching, clenched hands, stars spilling out, either from nervousness or desperation, I couldn’t be sure.
The howling turned meaner, deeper, more desperate.
The glow bugs drifted to my left, guiding me through columns of trees and outcroppings of mossy rock. I pushed through deep undergrowth, shoving vines out of the way, dread tightening my muscles with every step. The forest dwarfed me, and I didn’t expect to feel so lonely, or so incredibly small. But I did.
Just me. Against whatever was up ahead.
Lush ferns and bracken turned to mush, stomped down by enormous feet.
The air changed, from dense and green to rank and musty, as if something had crawled up out of a dank hole. The glow bugs swirled in front of me, a constellation of light blocking my way, as if to say,stop, look, see.
And when I did all those things, my mouth dropped open.
