KARIS

Loftin threw his bag over his back and threaded his leather belt around his waist, adjusting his sword into a comfortable position. But for a few tender moments, this place had faded away. There was nothing but Loftin and me and the combination of our breaths. He came so close to kissing me again. I was sure he wanted to, until he pulled away. There was a constant push and pull, ebb and flow between us. It was an exhausting tide.

My stomach growled and his eyes snapped toward it. “I’ll find food tonight,” he vowed, searching the sky. “But right now, we need to run.”

Loftin glanced at the staff in my hand. “You don’t need it, Karis.” My hand tightened around the smoothed wood. I knew I didn’t need it here, but the staff was safe and comforting. For years, it was a tool to keep me from making a misstep. “I’ll be with you,” he urged quietly.

He held a hand out for me and I took it, leaving my staff behind. He was right. I didn’t need it here. I could see. I wasn’t blind in this place because somehow, I belonged here. And with Loftin by my side, even if his constant mood swings left me confused, I felt safe in a world with so many dangers.

We climbed the river bank and within a few miles, made our way to the sea where I stood and marveled at the ocean and watched the foamy water gently lap at the shore. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.

“We should run. There are... creatures that live in the sand that come out when the moon is high,” he entreated, tugging me toward him.

“Do they eat fae?” I asked.

“They eat anything they can.”

“I’m scared,” I admitted. The image of the Washer entered my mind as we ran with the wind at our backs, pushing as if it was helping us flee. What kind of creatures lived in sand? There were no holes I could see. We ran in the hard, wet sand just above the surf, chasing the strands of moonlight that shimmered across land and sea.

“How far do we have to run?” I asked, yelling so he could hear me over the wind.

“A few more miles. The beach will turn rocky, and if we climb the rocks, we’ll be out of danger.” No doubt there would be another monster waiting for us in the rocks. My muscles burned, but didn’t ache as we tore across the earth.

When the ground underfoot began to rumble, Loftin muttered a curse. “Push harder!”

“I am pushing harder!”

We sprinted, our chests heaving and arms pumping. My stomach churned as the earth began to give way under our feet. “I think we woke them early!” he yelled.

“What are they?” I imagined I was flying across the sand.

“You don’t want to know. Just keep running!”

Before I knew it, the sand thinned and small, water-smoothed rocks littered the beach. Those small pebbles turned into larger ones, rough with holes all over their surfaces where the waves had eroded away chunks of rock.

Loftin slowed his pace, panting as we climbed atop some of the larger ones and glanced back to the sand we’d just sprinted across. Where a pristine, sandy beach had once been, was now littered with still-emerging creatures. Their bodies were composed of hard shells with tentacles stretching out from beneath, reaching for anything they could find. They were half as tall as I was, but twice as wide and...

“There are so many of them,” I marveled.

Some oozed into the water. Others stayed on the sand, lying in wait for anything that might chance landing or crawling across the sand... or running across it.

“What are they?”

“Unseelie monsters called Cratans. And their numbers are so staggering that half of them are starving. There isn’t enough food to sustain their diets, and yet they are fae.”

“Immortal,” I added.

“Immortality is rare. Fae can live forever, but they can also be killed. Unfortunately, starvation won’t kill them, but hunger drives them mad all the same,” he cautioned, a sharp edge to his voice. I knew that hunger. I’d felt it, felt the desperation that came with being helpless to do anything about it.

The sparse forest that skirted the beaches had disappeared and the land became sharp and brittle. The wind shifted and came from the north, cooler and crisper. It blew in our faces, stealing what little moisture remained in our mouths. I could almost feel the flesh of my lips drying and peeling up in brittle strips. To the north, directly in our path, were nothing but seaside cliffs, dotted with what appeared to be caves.

“Does anything live in those?” I pointed to the holes in the cliff walls.

“Yes.”

The tension gathered in my shoulders again. “Let me guess? Whatever lives there is dangerous.”

He nodded, hands on his hips, scrutinizing the caves. “Very. They prefer Seelie flesh.”

I blinked. You’ve got to be kidding. Is nothing in this place friendly? “How are we going to get past them? The wind will carry our scents right into those caves.”

“We climb the southernmost side of the cliff to keep our scent downwind, and hope for the best,” he answered. “Hides mostly hunt during the day, and are sluggish at night. They should be sleeping.”

Hides? This was insane. “Should be?” I questioned.

“They won’t refuse a meal, Karis. Especially Seelie flesh. And if you see one, please don’t scream. It will alert the others. We have to be silent, stealthy, and fast. Understood?”

I nodded at the impossible mandate. If I was going to get to the Northern Forest and have any hope of finding Iric, we had to take this route.

Loftin didn’t believe he was still alive. I saw it in his eyes and heard it in the hesitation in his voice when I brought Iric up the last time, so I stopped. But there was still a chance he had survived, and I would carry hope in my heart until I had a reason not to. I had to believe he made it and that we would find him.

Taking the canteen from my bag, I offered it to Loftin, who took a sip and told me to drink the rest. “There’s a fresh water source ahead, but we won’t make it up the cliff if you’re weak.”

I scoffed at his assumption. I wasn’t weak. But I drank the entire canteen and didn’t question him again, stuffing the canteen back in my bag.

He studied the cliff above us. It had been eroded by the salt water, and I wondered how sturdy the rock really was. “We have to climb fast.”

I’d never climbed anything more difficult than the steps to the amphitheater, and that was holding Iric’s arm. It was time to push this fae body to the limits.

The Cratans writhed along the sand just beyond the rock, some of them reaching out for us as we stayed as close as we could to them while still being out of reach. Making our way around and over boulders, we made it to the bottom of the cliff. It was sheer—straight up, but not many caves were close to the edge. Most of them were farther north, as the earth bent around, the water winning the war it waged against it.

“Is this considered part of the Northern Forest?” I asked Loftin as we stared at the difficult task above us.

He pursed his lips. “This is the edge, yes. We’re leaving the Eastern Forest, formerly home of the Court of Spring, and entering the Court of Winter.”

He tugged at his hair. “Karis, I… there’s something I need to tell you. It’s really important.”

“More important than reaching the top of the cliff as quickly as possible?” I taunted.

“More important than that. I…. shit. I have a lot to explain to you.”

“Let’s just get to the top,” I offered. “I’m going to need a good long rest after this. You can tell me then.”

He glanced at the top of the cliff, where I knew we probably wouldn’t be able to stop. Surely there lurked some other Unseelie bastards, hell-bent on eating us up there. “Are you sure you want to wait?”

“Positive.” I already wanted this climb over with, and had a feeling he was going to try to tell me Iric was likely dead. News I didn’t want to hear.

He nodded, pinching his lips together. “Very well.”

We were so close to the Northern Forest, close to where Iric would’ve headed. I could taste the bitter cold on the wind as it met the spring warmth. Also filled with frost were Loftin’s words. His tone became clipped and cold.

“Keep quiet. Make sure your hand and foot holds are sure before moving on. Move as fast as you can. And whatever happens, don’t make a sound.”

Tension set into my muscles. The situation was more than daunting; making such a climb in the dark with the Hides so close, the wind fighting against us, life at the top of the cliff and a bone-crunching death at the bottom.

But, no time like the present.

We began inching up the cliff. My vision was sharp even with so little light, but I paid close attention to make sure I didn’t falter or slip. I didn’t come this far only to fall to my death, left for some scavenger to peck apart, nothing more than carrion.

And Loftin didn’t need to worry himself over my ability, or inability, to climb. He wasn’t responsible for me.

For once in my life, I was responsible for myself.

Besides, if I could keep up with him as we ran over land, surely I could climb at his pace. It was an exceedingly tall cliff, but if we were careful, we would be up it in no time and the Hides would never know we were near.

We’d made it through so many obstacles so far. What was one more?

* * *

LOFTIN

She gritted her teeth. We were three quarters of the way up the cliff, but her muscles shook with exhaustion. The cliff’s sharp edges had shredded her fingers. I could smell the coppery tang of her blood from just a few feet above her. If the wind shifted...

“Let me help you,” I whispered, glancing down at her. She was close enough that I could reach out to her. Just to my right. If I leaned her way, I could help her up the next step and we could make a final push toward the top. Together.

“No. I just need to rest.” Karis clung to the cliff and her teeth chattered so violently, I thought they might break.

“Climb to me, and we’ll take this one step at a time together.”

The wind swirled, but we were still downwind. No sign of the Hides thus far. Then, she let out a whimper. I looked down to see her mouth wide open in a silent scream.

“What’s wrong?”

Searching her, I didn’t see anything.

“It’s biting me,” she stammered as quietly as she could. Panic filled her voice, and I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t a Hide.

Shaking one of her legs out from the cliff, she clung to the rock face, in danger of falling from the movement. The motion loosed a Brownie from her leg and the tiny fae bared her needle-sharp teeth, calling out and alerting her family that there was food. Then it flew up and bit Karis on the back. Karis moved her shoulder to try to shake the fae off, but couldn’t shake with enough force and not let go of the cliff.

“Help me!” she whispered just before the fae bit her once more.

I climbed down and grabbed Karis’s hand, helping her climb faster. If I could have born her weight, I would have carried her up the cliff. But I couldn’t. My body’s limitations were similar to hers right now. With scant magic in Faery, we were little better than human.

A flock of Brownies descended, some trying to bite through my leather, unable to draw blood through the thick hide. Their teeth caught on my tunic and in frustration, they turned their attention to Karis.

She climbed, panting, and fought them as best she could.

“Don’t fall. We’re near the top,” I urged, tugging her upward and trying to be strong for both of us.

If she lived through this, it would be a miracle.

Burn it all.

“Karis, stay with me.” Her steps became clumsy.

She fumbled her way toward the top, and when I reached the edge and pulled her up, I knocked the Brownies away. They regrouped, coming back for more, and I sent a burst of flame toward them. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make them shrink away and keep them from attacking her again.

Karis lay on her stomach, bloody roses blossoming all over her white shirt and up and down her arms from the tiny bites. She rolled onto her back, giggling. More roses appeared down the legs of her pants.

Her eyes were glassy and she spoke in slurred words as if she were drunk.

The Brownies’ poison was potent. She was hallucinating. Laughing, she tried to stand, reaching out into the air for something that wasn’t there.

She rolled to her stomach and got on all fours, trying to stand, but fell, giggling uncontrollably.

I got her to her feet and guided her away from the cliff. We needed help. I was no healer, and this many bites could be fatal to a fae.

“Please be okay,” I implored into her ear. “I need to tell you everything.”

Just then, a growl came from behind and with Karis in my arms, I turned around to see three Hides behind us. Their elongated yellow eyes glowed in the moonlight, and their teeth, jagged and brown, gleamed as they smiled at what they presumed to be their next meal.

My flame was weak. Karis was in no shape to make her energy ball.

I laid her down near a tree and told her to stay put. She answered with laughter, but the laughing turned into violent coughs that wracked her body. When she finally caught her breath, I could hear her breathing becoming more labored by the second.

The Hides were on me the moment I turned around, slashing with their claws and shrieking as they descended. I cut through one with my sword, slicing straight through its stomach and pushing him off the blade with my boot. He tumbled down the cliff.

Shrill cries came from below as his brothers descended on him, feral and crazed as they fed. The two remaining Hides regarded one another in silent communication. One sprang forward, and while I dealt with him, the other disappeared behind me. When Karis began to laugh, my stomach sank. I cut the legs from the second Hide and kicked him over the cliff, frantic in my pursuits to get to Karis.

As I turned around, I saw the third Hide crouching down next to her. The sickening crunch of bone came next. But not from my sword. A Leancan had the Hide’s head in his hands.

“What do we have here?” he quipped. His pale skin shone in the moonlight as his fangs retracted. He tilted his head to the side questioningly. “Loftin? Prince of Autumn?”

“Cillian.”

His answering smile was more feral than friendly. “And who is this?” He turned his attention to Karis, who was staring up at him and smiling.

“Karis,” she answered sweetly.

The vampire’s eyes flicked to mine. “What an interesting evening this has turned out to be.” He picked her up, carrying her against his chest. “You may follow, but she’s coming with me. She needs help. Fast.”

She seemed calm, even though her heart was thundering. The toxin was speeding it. Soon, it wouldn’t be able to keep the pace.

I followed behind Cillian as he ran through the woods, away from the Northern Forest and back into the realm of the Court of Spring, up to the Leancan lair. Soon, we were climbing the steps to their palace. The vines, once vibrantly arcing over thick double doors, had browned and withered. The doors were wide open and the palace was dark and devoid of life, save for the undead fae before me. And technically, he wasn’t alive, either.

Cillian wound through the hallways until he came to a heavy door. He nodded toward it, and I pushed it open to reveal a long staircase that sank into the ground. Cillian carried Karis down into the darkness. As the door closed behind me, two vampires grabbed my arms, wrenching them behind my back and dragging me down the steps.

Something struck the back of my head and blinding pain filled my skull. Darkness descended.