Traveling was no more fun than Cyrene remembered it being. Saddle aches and pains returned with a vengeance, and after her huge drain of power, there wasn’t enough food to sate her. Not to mention, they had to ride a whole league out of the way to get to a bridge to cross the Keylani River. And, with a party as large as theirs, it was hardly inconspicuous.

She still couldn’t believe that there were nine of them leaving the city. Though…it should have been ten. She tried not to think about Elea. What she had seen. What she must be thinking. If Edric was in fact going to kill her. Cyrene had abandoned her sister, and she felt personally responsible. Though everyone assured her she wasn’t.

The bridge itself was on the official dividing line between Byern and Carhara, their militaristic neighbor. Lucky for them, the soldiers guarding either side of the bridge were too busy arguing with each other to notice a shift in their surroundings. Matilde and Vera managed to cloak their entire group across the bridge without either military being any the wiser.

“How did you do that?” Cyrene asked Vera once they were across.

“I’ll teach you once we’re safe again.”

Cyrene’s expression must have shown exactly what she thought about that.

“I promise, I will. It’s an incredible drain on powers especially for a party this size. For now, I think you need some time away from your powers.”

“Why?” she breathed.

Vera raised her eyebrows. “I can feel that much has happened since we were last together. I am not trying to stop you from learning whatever you wish. Nor will Matilde. However, I would like to ensure you are being trained properly.”

The key word, properly.

For no matter that she had gained considerable control back in Byern, she hadn’t done it the right way. The painstakingly slow, obnoxious way that she detested.

“Patience,” Vera said with a kind smile. “You will get it. I believe in you.”

Cyrene didn’t say another thing, just trudged forward.

For six days.

Six agonizing days of no magic. After training so regularly, it felt like torture. And, worse, though she was desperately happy to be with her friends, she felt as if she didn’t fit in the same way that she had before. Then, she had been an ambitious, reckless girl but a leader. Now, she was withdrawn and distant. Dean was the only one who had seen what she did, and she wasn’t about to confide in him. Nor was she ready to confide in anyone else.

But they all looked at her, as if they expected her to take the lead, to be the leader she had once been, but she didn’t.

She didn’t ask where they were going.

She didn’t try to take charge and order people around.

She didn’t even try to cajole Matilde and Vera to work on her magic with her.

She just…existed.

And she tried to forget the burning feeling of blood magic racing through her system. The connection between her and Kael that called to her with desperation. The tug of a bond she was trying to ignore. The darkness that crept up through her.

She had information to share about going forward. All the things that Serafina had said that she hadn’t dare let herself think about, beyond getting out of the castle.

“Use the coin.”

What coin?

“Find the lost ones.”

Who were the lost ones?

“Learn the truth.”

Which truth?

“Let the past be your guide to remake the future.”

Whose past? How would she remake the future?

“Don’t give in to this blindness.”

Had she been blind?

“There are bigger factors at play, trying to draw you in and away from me, and I want you to be safe. Guard your mind and open your heart.”

That was not very encouraging. She already thought that there were too big of factors at play in this fight.

“I dare not speak her name.”

Who was this mysterious woman? And how could she possibly frighten Serafina that much. If she was that terrifying then Cyrene was doomed.

But she didn’t share her fears.

They made camp on the banks of the Taken Mountains about a mile outside of Levin—a northern Byern city ruled by a regent, Duke Wynn Reagles, whose brother, Duke Halston Reagles, was regent of Albion. Cyrene actually liked Duke Halston and his wife, Duchess Elida, who had been pregnant when she last saw her. Though she dearly hoped she would not meet Duke Wynn.

“I’m going into the city to get supplies,” Orden told them only a few minutes after they set up camp.

“I’ll come with you,” Ahlvie said at once.

Reeve jumped up as well. “I will go too.”

“No offense,” Ahlvie said, “but I don’t think you can exactly fit in as Third Class.”

Reeve looked offended at the comment, but Aubron held his hand out.

“He’s right. I’ll go.”

Cyrene took her time brushing down Ceffy before stepping back into the circle of people and taking a seat. Orden, Ahlvie, and Aubron had already departed. Avoca had taken one look at the camp and said she was going to set up traps in the woods. Dean had offered to go with her, but she had snarled at him so violently that he sat down and started up a dicing game with Reeve. She was glad that Ahlvie was not here to cheat them out of what little money they had brought with them. It made her heart ache to see Dean and Reeve together like that. She quickly looked away and focused instead on Matilde and Vera.

“Can I ask a question?”

“You just did, child,” Matilde said.

Cyrene gave her a halfhearted smile. “How can you be here if the magical barrier is still up in Byern?”

“The barrier is down,” Matilde told her.

“What?”

“Yes, it is a strange thing. You probably cannot feel it, but to those of us who know what we’re looking for, a magical barrier such as the one constructed two thousand years ago by Viktor Dremylon has a consistency to it. Like running your hand through water.”

She understood that. She had felt something similar when leaving the castle. “And now that it is gone?”

“The night before we got you out of the castle, we were planning on how to move up through the mountains to avoid magical detection. Then, out of nowhere, it was as if a shock wave went through the mountains. Matilde, Avoca, and I all instantly felt it.”

Cyrene felt sick to her stomach. “This brought down the magical barrier that had been there for two thousand years?”

“Yes. It must have been something very powerful.”

Cyrene turned away. She knew exactly what had happened the night before Elea’s Presenting and had felt the very shock wave Matilde and Vera spoke of.

It had happened when she kissed Kael.

It was almost dark when Cyrene first felt that something was wrong.

“Shouldn’t they be back by now?” Cyrene asked. She paced a line in the grass as she waited anxiously.

“Indeed,” Vera said.

“They’ll get here when they get here,” Matilde said.

“No, something is wrong.” Cyrene shook her head. “This isn’t right.”

“Cyrene, the trek to Levin and back with supplies could take a considerable amount of time,” Reeve said, adding his two cents.

“Are you sure?” Dean asked instead.

She glared at him. “I trust my gut.”

Though she knew that she shouldn’t. It had been wrong before. It had been wrong about Dean.

“I’m going out to look for them,” she said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and setting off.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dean and Reeve said at the same time. “You can’t go alone.”

Cyrene ignored them. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. One of you, go check on Avoca. But, if you mess up her traps, you’ll pay for it.”

Matilde and Vera didn’t even argue with her. They were back in their silent conversation. What about, she didn’t know. But she could see the blatant worry on their faces when they looked at her.

Yeah, she didn’t look like a savior so much anymore. She didn’t feel like one either.

Cyrene moved out of the narrow mountain pass where their glen was secretly concealed when she heard footsteps behind her. She rolled her eyes. Of course Dean is going to follow me.

“I don’t want to talk to you. So, run back up to camp. I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she spat without looking over her shoulder.

The footsteps drew nearer, and she huffed out in exasperation. Seriously, she wanted to be alone.

“I cannot believe—”

A hand clamped over her mouth, and a blade was being held at her throat.

“Don’t say a word,” it breathed into her ear.

She froze as still as a board. Whatever was touching her was not of this world. If it had been a man, she could have sunk into its mind and commanded it to release her or blast the person away from her.

But this was no man.

This was…evil incarnate.

The touch of the blade at her throat and the hand on her mouth made her insides squirm and her mind want to pull away. But fear held her steady. She needed her wits about her to figure out what she was going to do.

“I will be happy to gut you from throat to navel, but my master desires your safe return,” it said. The voice slipped and slithered over and all around her. “Lucky for you, I do love the taste of magic. It feeds my bones, and it has been far too long since I tasted one such as yourself.”

Cyrene shivered. “What are you?”

The blade cut deeper. “I said…don’t say a word.”

Cyrene closed her eyes. She could smell decaying flesh and rotten eggs. She wanted to gag, but she swallowed and tried to focus. Though the hand on her felt sturdy, it seemed to be made of smoke, as if, at anytime, she could break through the form and find it not to be corporeal.

“What are you waiting for? Take me back to your master,” she spat the word out.

A forked tongue glided out of its mouth and came to lick up her cheek. She shuddered.

“I think I would like to taste this one before we go.”

Not a good sign.

“Does Doma flesh still taste like sucking the juices out of a pig? Succulent and brimming with energy?” The thing cackled. “I think I’d like to find out.”

Cyrene couldn’t wait another moment. She shot a blast of energy in a burst of power. The thing released her, and she abruptly stumbled forward. She whirled around to face her attacker with her hands up, ready to fight. But there was nothing and no one there. Just mountains.

Her heart was racing, and her skin was hot and clammy, as if she had a fever. She reached down for her magic, that overflowing well, and found next to nothing.

Holy Creator!

The energy she had used to throw Kael across the room was tremendous, but she’d still had plenty. He’d said that blood magic from someone you were close with would give you more powers. She had assumed that meant she would have gotten a lot from her parents. How could I possibly be running low when all I did was cast aside that strange creature?

She took two steps back up to camp before her legs gave out. She collapsed down onto one knee and raised her hand to her forehead. Have I been poisoned? Is its blade like the Braj? Whatever it was…

She touched her hand to the spot where the blade had been, but there wasn’t any blood. Not even a nick. It had been holding her in place, not trying to hurt her. Well, not yet anyway.

Her thoughts stalled as hurried footsteps sounded from the trail below her. She turned her head to see what the commotion was and found Ahlvie, Orden, and Aubron sprinting toward her with at least a dozen guardsmen on horseback following a clip behind them.

What now?

“The fun never ends,” she bit out as she rose shakily to her feet.

“Cyrene, out of the way. Get going!” Ahlvie cried once he was within range.

But she held her ground and reached for the magic she still had harnessed at her core. She could do this. She could make this all right. The truth was that they could not be followed. She would not be captured and taken back to the capital to face Kael and Edric. She was finally free, and she was damn well determined to stay that way.

“Go,” she spat as all three men formed up around her. “Go warn the others.”

“Aubron, do it,” Ahlvie commanded.

His brother nodded once and then scampered up the mountain pass. Orden and Ahlvie dropped their supply packs and traded them out for swords.

“They’re mine,” she told them.

“Cyrene, you look near to death,” Ahlvie told her.

“What a compliment from a scoundrel.”

He grinned ferociously at her. Something in his eyes shifted from brown to hazel to gold, his features more angular, his teeth bared.

“Ahlvie is right,” Orden said. “Allow us.”

“None of us are getting out of these mountains if you do not get out of my way and let me work.”

Then, she took a step forward, drew her powers into her, and let them loose on the guardsmen barreling toward them. The ground shook with the force of an earthquake. Their horses skittered across the rocky ground, tossing their riders and falling into a crack she had created in the earth. The rumble lasted for what felt like an eternity before ceasing.

But, still…more came forward. One or two had managed to remain on their horses and a handful more with swords drawn, warily approaching where she stood. She raked her hand to the side, knocking the two remaining riders off their steeds, and then spiraled all the men up in a wave of air, constricting their airways and keeping them from breathing.

“Cyrene,” Orden whispered softly.

“Cyrene, please,” Ahlvie said, “drop them.”

She did as he’d said. Fifteen feet down they went without any of the feline grace that she had.

Crunch.

And, it wasn’t enough. She stalked forward, a predator advancing on her prey. She reached for the men still living and tasted the blood on their bodies. Tasted the hint of magic emanating from the dead. So much power. So much right here for the taking. All she had to do was—

No.

No, she wouldn’t. Couldn’t.

But if she did…

She seized all the broken bits of guardsmen and dragged them toward her with a flick of her wrist. Then, she lined them up in a pretty row and dropped into their minds like wet sand.

“You did not see us here. You will forget our faces and everything you saw and heard. You came out to investigate the earthquake. You found nothing unusual. You will ride back to Levin and not report anything out of the ordinary to your commander.”

She precariously held them. Her magic waned. And, in all of it, all she felt was the ache. It crawled at her. Begged her. Coaxed her.

Who are these men and women?

They would have killed her or collected her with no conscience. No hesitation. She would have been halfway back to Byern, her friends slaughtered.

Why didn’t they deserve the same thing?

A life for a life after all.

She reached for it. Ready to drain the life force from these men to refill her well. Because, if Kael was right, then she would need it. And, right now…she did. She desperately did.

“Don’t!” Ahlvie said, jumping in front of her. “They have families, Cyrene! Wives and husbands and children. They were following orders. Let them go home.”

“They wouldn’t have done the same for us.”

“I know I might not look it, Cyrene, but you and I, we’re the good guys.”

“What does that even mean?” she shouted. “What is good and evil in this world? There is only power. Who has it and who doesn’t and how far you are willing to go to take it.”

“You don’t believe that,” Ahlvie pleaded with her. He stepped forward, and with no fear in his eyes, he took her trembling hand. “You are good. So, maybe we all have a little darkness in us, but we are not murderers. We do not silence voices of dissent. We listen and help change the world. And, those men, Cyrene, they want more than you are going to give them. Let them find that new world with us.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked, her voice wavering. Her grasp on her magic slipping.

“Because there was a time when you believed in me when no one else would. When you had no reason to. When I could have been that killer. And I believe in you just as much as you did in me.”

Cyrene looked up into Ahlvie’s shining eyes, and with a gasp, she dropped her hand. All of the guards crumpled onto the ground. Confused to be sure when they woke up but alive.

“Thank you,” she muttered. “Thank you.”

“Come on,” he said. He put his arm around her frail frame. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I don’t know that I can…”

She was lucky that he held her because she took two more steps before collapsing as thoroughly as the guards.