I gasped, but Oliver and Giselle both merely frowned.

“Snow leopards aren’t exactly known for attacking humans, Sterling.” Giselle sounded impatient.

Sterling continued to look grim. “Normally, I’d agree with you, Your Highness. But this isn’t exactly normal circumstances, now is it?” He gestured around us. “Have you ever seen snow like this in late spring before? At cub time? It’s not just us humans affected by this encroaching winter. And it’s been three hard years before this.”

He hesitated, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Seeing this one den isn’t even what worries me most. I saw another one much too recently. And that one had four cubs not yet old enough to walk.”

“Another one? This close?” Now Oliver sounded worried as well.

Sterling nodded. “I think the den I just saw belongs to a male, and it looks fairly new. I’d say his territory is usually higher up. He’s likely come down as far as he dares to make a new one. He knows that by coming down here he’s encroaching on other leopards’ territories. That female’s for one, and quite possibly another male’s. And if he’s been driven to this—who knows what else he may be driven to?”

Giselle bit her lip, and I saw her eyes dart around us in the same pattern as Sterling’s gaze kept taking. “What do you suggest?” she asked.

Sterling rubbed his jaw. “It’s late afternoon already, and we won’t make it all the way through the next section before nightfall. It’s dusk and dawn they’re usually out hunting, so I say we find a spot to camp now and tackle the next section in the middle of the day.”

Oliver frowned, and I knew what he was thinking. More time lost when we were already on an impossible deadline. But his gaze turned to his sister before lingering on me, and when he spoke, his mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely.

“I don’t know. You said you just saw this den. I assume the male wasn’t actually there.”

“Aye.” Sterling sounded thoughtful.

“Well,” Oliver continued, “if their other patterns have changed, who’s to say their hunting hours haven’t extended also? It seems he’s already out hunting now, in fact. And I haven’t seen any convenient caves any time recently where we might camp. I don’t like the idea of lingering here for so long or of setting ourselves up in the open.”

“You want to hunt him ourselves then, Your Highness?” I couldn’t tell from his tone whether Sterling approved or not.

Oliver sighed. “Want to? No. I hate the idea, to be honest. But I hate the idea of ending up food myself even more.” Again his eyes flicked to Giselle and then me.

Part of me wanted to tell him we could look after ourselves, but the other part of me was in complete agreement. I had no desire to suddenly find a desperate and hungry snow leopard leaping onto my head. Especially not while I was stuck in these awkward shoes and trying to hide my abilities from one of our party.

“Well, then, I guess we’re going hunting.” Sterling sounded unenthusiastic but willing, at least. And he began to prepare in a way that suggested he had some idea what he was doing, divesting himself of anything that would get in his way.

“We’ll leave our packs with you,” said Oliver, striding over to leave them in a sheltered spot between some trees and against a cliff wall.

Giselle opened her mouth, but a stern look from Oliver made her close it again with a resigned look. I wasn’t so easily quelled.

“What are we supposed to be? Bait? I’m not sitting around waiting to be picked off by a desperate predator.”

Oliver was shaking his head before I’d got close to finishing. “We’re not exactly their preferred prey, so I can’t see him attacking you in the open snow. Especially not when we’re hunting him. I know it’s not ideal, but you’d be nothing but dead weight if you came along. At best.”

He gave me a meaningful look, and I glared back at him.

A laugh appeared in the back of his eyes. “I’m not impugning your skills, Celine. You’ve turned out to have a great many hidden talents. And if you tell me that tracking and hunting animals in the snow is one of them, then I’ll welcome you along with gratitude. If, on the other hand, you have no experience in that area…”

He waited, watching me with a cocked eyebrow.

“Fine,” I said, sitting down in what would be called a huff in anyone less exalted than a princess. “I will sit here and await rescue by the brave and handsome prince.” I batted my eyelashes at him as angrily as I could.

“Did you hear that, Giselle?” Oliver grinned. “She thinks I’m brave and handsome.”

“Oh, do get on with it,” said Giselle, rolling her eyes and plonking herself beside me.

“Ready, princeling?” asked Sterling. It was the least respectful toward Oliver that I’d ever heard him, but I supposed that hunting dangerous animals re-ordered the hierarchy somewhat. There was no denying that out here in the mountains, Sterling was the master.

As soon as they disappeared, I suggested that we start a fire.

“Feeling cold?” Giselle gave me an ironic look.

“Obviously not.” I shivered at just the idea of how cold I would be feeling without my internal fire to keep me warm. “But if this takes a while, you’ll freeze just sitting here. And I daresay the hunters would appreciate something warm to eat when they get back.”

“And it might keep any wild animals away?”

I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or offering the suggestion seriously.

“Well, I know Oliver said we should be safe, but it couldn’t hurt, right?”

Leaving our own packs next to Sterling’s and Oliver’s, we began to gather sticks and kindling. I didn’t want to use what Sterling had been gathering for our evening campfire.

It quickly became obvious why he gathered it throughout the day. Finding enough for even a small, short-lived blaze in the immediate vicinity turned out to be difficult. Without noticing, I moved further and further from Giselle and our packs.

Eventually I had gathered nearly enough to make at least a small fire which should be enough to keep Giselle from freezing if nothing else. So I circled back around, hoping she had been equally fortunate. Thankfully it was easy to follow my tracks back in the direction I had come, so I hurried more quickly, my focus on my snowshoes. Moving on the snow with any kind of speed involved a great deal of concentration. Especially when I had my arms full of sticks.

Perhaps that’s why I didn’t notice anything earlier. A sudden prickling of dread was as much responsible for my sudden pause as the slight sound. Regardless of the reason, I spun around and dropped into a crouch a mere second before a blur of gray leaped at me from a nearby boulder.

Thanks to my quick movement, the creature missed, landing some way further on before spinning to face me. The large cat planted its four feet and hissed. I had imagined a snow leopard as pure white, but in reality, it looked more gray than white, with black spots covering its face and body.

I dropped the wood in my arms and straightened. Somewhat to my surprise, I felt no fear. Giselle’s earlier words had reminded me that while I might not be any good for hunting or tracking, I was also far from defenseless. I was heading into the unknown to take down a kingdom-killing enchantment. I could handle one hungry cat.

I didn’t even have to think about stoking the fire inside, it roared up to meet me. Thrusting out my hands, palms toward the sky, I ignited a fire ball on each one. For a moment we both stood motionless, facing off. The leopard growled, but its feet shifted, almost uncertainly, and I half expected it to turn and run from the flames.

But I couldn’t let it go. It might attack Giselle next, and she didn’t have the defenses I did.

As I drew back one arm, however, ready to lob the ball of fire toward the cat, a shout split the air.

“Celine, no! Stop!”

I hesitated, turning toward Giselle’s voice in time to see her come stumbling out of the trees. She launched herself toward me, gripping my closest arm with both hands and forcing it down.

My control slipped, and the flame shifted shape, running up my arm toward her. I gasped and extinguished it. The leopard hissed again in response, and I remembered its presence.

“Giselle! What are you doing?”

“You can’t do that,” she said. “What would we do with the body? How would we explain to Sterling that the leopard exploded in flames? We are trying to keep your abilities a secret, aren’t we?”

I gave her a blank look, and she lowered her brows.

“Wait—you don’t actually trust him, do you? You haven’t told him?”

“No, of course not. But…” I looked back at the leopard who seemed to be undecided as to whether it should run now that I had company or attack now that the fire had disappeared.

It shifted its weight forward, a low growl returning, and I swallowed. The fear that had been missing earlier rushed in, almost extinguishing the lingering warmth inside. My eyes flicked from the leopard’s bared teeth to the long claws that cut into the snow. I had no sword, no spear, no long weapon of any kind to fend it off.

“Celine!” Giselle cried again, this time in more of a scream than a shout.

The cat had finally made a decision—apparently deeming her the better target. As it leaped toward her, fire sprouted from my fingers without my making a conscious decision to call it. But I hesitated, Giselle’s earlier warning ringing in my ears.

Giselle snatched up the longest and sturdiest of the branches I had dropped, whipping it in front of her and bracing it with both hands. The animal smashed into it, thrown off enough to miss its target, although the tip wasn’t sharp enough to pierce skin.

It fell hard against the snow, rising only shakily back to its feet. This time it didn’t even consider another attack, turning tail and disappearing swiftly into the trees. I followed it with my eyes, my flaming hands still held in front of me.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t…”

Giselle had collapsed into the snow, panting. “I don’t think she’ll be attacking us again in a hurry, do you? Or any humans for that matter.”

I nodded, the fire winking out. My mind, which seemed to have frozen during the attack, began to work again. “She? So that wasn’t the one Oliver is tracking?”

“No, it can’t have been. She must be the one from the den Sterling saw earlier. The one with the cubs. She did appear to be heading back downhill. I know we weren’t expecting her to be out hunting as well, especially out this far, but if other leopards are encroaching on her territory, she’s probably getting worried for her cubs. Especially with this weather.”

I began to gather the fallen sticks, carefully avoiding looking at Giselle. Shame smothered me, making it hard to breathe. With my powers I had felt strong, but without them I had been utterly useless. What would Oliver say if he knew I had left his young sister to defend herself without even trying to help?

I picked up the last branch except for the one Giselle still gripped. Would she tell him? He was already unhappy with me for my deal with Cassandra—but this time his disgust would be warranted. He couldn’t think any more harshly of me than I already thought of myself.

Slowly we returned to the abandoned packs. Giselle walked in silence, and I couldn’t blame her. At least she wasn’t expressing her disgust aloud.

When we reached the packs, I once again dropped the sticks. I knew I should prepare the fire, but my mind still circled around the encounter with the leopard, a slight shake making my hands rebel against the commands I attempted to give them.

Again Giselle acted without speaking, carefully placing the sticks ready for a fire. When she had finished, she looked up at me expectantly. I stared back at her stupidly for a moment before giving a sudden start and thrusting a spurt of fire at her arrangement.

I had overcompensated, though, and the flames rushed through the sticks, not holding long enough to ignite them. I took a deep breath and tried again, maintaining a more controlled stream this time. When I was sure the sticks had caught, I let my hands drop and sat down.

I knew I couldn’t put off my apology to Giselle any longer. But when she threw herself into the snow beside me, her expression made me stop short. Her eyes glowed, her face alive with excitement.

And when she looked up and met my gaze, a grin broke across her face.

“That was amazing!” She smiled into our little fire and then back up at me. “Celine—we fought a snow leopard!”

I smiled back, although the expression felt painful on my face. “We? I’m pretty sure it was all you.”

She sat up straighter, seeming to take my words as a compliment to her rather than an indictment of me.

“It was pretty amazing,” she murmured again. “Although I think all that fire threw it off. I’ve never actually seen one up close like that before.” She chortled suddenly. “Just wait until Oliver hears!”

I winced, looking down quickly so she wouldn’t notice. It seemed foolish to apologize now when she clearly hadn’t noticed anything odd. It might even be insulting, since it would imply I hadn’t thought her able to handle the situation without me.

Slowly I regained some calm, although the shame still stung whenever my mind wandered back to the attack. To keep ourselves busy, we prepared some hot tea, and when Oliver and Sterling finally returned, they looked grateful for it.

My eyes searched Oliver for any signs of injury, but I could see nothing. He looked tired and sad, but I could also read their success in his eyes.

“He was lurking waiting for prey just where we thought he would be,” he said quietly. “Above the next part of our path.”

“The way is now clear,” said Sterling, and neither of them offered any further details.

Giselle nodded, clearly attempting to look nonchalant. “I don’t think we should be having any trouble from the other one, either.”

Oliver frowned at her and then quickly looked to me, his eyes asking for clarification.

I swallowed and forced myself to talk normally. “It seems the mother was also out hunting today. She managed to find us, but we gave her enough of a scare that I don’t think she’ll be coming back any time soon. She took off downhill.”

“What?!” Oliver stood, looked around a little foolishly, and then sat back down.

“You two scared it off?” Sterling’s voice held something—although I couldn’t tell if it was skepticism or begrudging respect.

Oliver’s eyes immediately flew to my hands, and I knew what he was thinking. I shook my head slightly, rushing into an explanation.

“We’d been gathering sticks for the fire, and Giselle wielded one like an expert spearman. The leopard nearly skewered herself on it, and she quickly lost interest after that.”

“Two leopards.” Oliver shook his head. “What are the chances?”

“What are the chances of any of this?” I gestured wide to indicate the mountain, the snow, and our mismatched little party.

He grimaced, his face acknowledging the truth of my words. But with Sterling present, none of us felt like dissecting the situation any further. Instead we quickly packed up and began the next section. Sterling had assured us that a snug little cave could be found halfway along the rocky section, and at least we would be getting a short break from the snow shoes.

Oliver smiled almost warmly at me as we set off, and it took all of my self-control to smile back. He clearly thought there was more to the story—and he was right. It just wasn’t what he was thinking. I hadn’t saved Giselle, she had saved me. Twice.

And I had just stood there. Useless without my powers.