“If you betray me, I’ll have your head, shifter,” I threatened. The only thing preventing me from electrocuting Ryker where he stood was I remembered how he had been one of the only Night’s Guards who sincerely had been nice to me, and he had been a big reason I’d been able to escape the Institute.

“I might surprise us both, but we must hurry. There is a healer in the marshes. If we can get him there before he bleeds out, the Slayer just might stand a chance.” He waited for me to make a decision.

“If you betray me, I’ll have your head, shifter,” I threatened. The only thing preventing me from electrocuting Ryker where he stood was I remembered how he had been one of the only Night’s Guards who sincerely had been nice to me, and he had been a big reason I’d been able to escape the Institute. I dropped he shield praying he could really save Dash.

Ryker tore off the sleeve of his shirt, pressing it into the wound on Dash’s belly. “Keep pressure on it,” he instructed Dash.

Dash nodded, fighting to stay upright. He was in pain. I could see it lining his forehead.

I turned back to Ryker. “The Misty Marshes? That is very close to the edge of the Heights, isn’t it?” From what I’d learned about the far edges of the Heights, it was dangerous territory. Get too close to where the mist still lingered and you risked exposure. The toxic vapor had been given years to fester, becoming more potent.

Ryker nodded. “But she is our best shot. Help me get him up.”

“Freckles, he’s right,” Dash wheezed. It pained Dash in more than one way to admit it.

I was desperate. I would do anything to save him, including trusting a member of the Night’s Guard. “Fine, but I will make good on my threat if you double-cross us. And then later, you and I are going to talk about how long you’ve been spying on me.” Together, Ryker and I lifted Dash up, draping his arms over our shoulders for support.

Hobbling down the path, we went farther into the woods. Giant oak trees swathed in moss and vines surrounded us on all sides as we drew closer to the marsh. Creatures scurried behind bushes and tree trunks as we came through.

“How much farther do we have to go?” I asked, worried that Dash might be losing too much blood. The cotton strip was soaked crimson, and he was becoming fatigued.

“Less than a mile,” Ryker breathed.

Dread settled like rocks in the pit of my stomach. It seemed so far. “Can she be trusted?”

“Celeste?” Ryker responded. “Can anyone really be trusted?”

I glanced at Dash in concern. His coloring was starting to wash out. “Yeah. Dash can be.”

Ryker snorted. “Or love has made you blind.”

“And blind loyalty to an organization like the Institute is better?” I countered.

“I’m not much of a follower.”

“Me neither,” I grumbled.

“I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you.”

“He does,” Dash groaned.

I hushed him. “Don’t talk. You need to save your strength.”

“Well, I can’t very well sit by while bird man tries to make a move on my girl,” Dash huffed.

I rolled my eyes at the same time my heart fluttered in my chest.

After what felt like hours, we reached the Misty Marsh just as a light drizzle started to fall, making the marshland blurry and mysterious. We came upon a bubbling pond the color of tar, and the air thickened with humidity, making it hard to breathe. A heaviness settled into my chest, an unpleasant feeling.

Dash stumbled, and I knew he was fighting to stay conscious. I was about to ask if we were almost there, like a persistent, whining two year old, but through the dense fog, a shape took form.

It was a quaint cottage nestled between two massive trees that reminded me of weeping willows. Although I could tell someone had made an effort to fix up the home, there was still evidence of the mist that hadn’t been erased.

The white paint had turned a greenish gray, weathered and worn. No amount of bleach could brighten the cottage, but that didn’t detract from its charm. As we stepped up to the porch, I noticed floorboards had been replaced, looking out of place from the older, darker ones. Blooming flowers similar to lilies and roses perfumed the air just outside the two large windows flanking the front door.

“We’re here,” I murmured to Dash. “Just hold on.”

The door opened before Ryker had a chance to knock. A woman with beautiful shimmery silver hair appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were like polished aqua gemstones, bright and observant. It was hard to judge her age. She could have been twenty or forty. There was a youthfulness to her but, at the same time, a wisdom you could only get with age. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said in a musical voice like a thousand harps. With a sweep of her arm, she gestured for us to come inside, bangles chiming together on her wrists.

“Celeste.” Ryker tipped his head as we walked over the threshold into the enigmatic healer’s home.

“Can you help him?” I asked once we had settled Dash onto the worn, yet clean, couch.

Celeste quickly made an outward assessment, her gaze sweeping over Dash. “He’s burning up and has lost a lot of blood. The blade that pierced him had poison in it. I can smell it burning into his flesh, but he might stand a chance if his will to live is strong.”

Pushing to her feet in haste, Celeste lit a stick that reminded me of incense, waving it over Dash’s body. “Help me get his shirt off.”

“The girls are always saying that to me,” Dash muttered.

“The fact that he is still lucid is a good sign. He is trying to fight off the infection attacking his body,” Celeste said.

With impatient hands, Ryker jerked the end of Dash’s blood-soaked shirt over his head, leaving him bare-chested. Dash hissed as a bolt of pain clawed at his stomach.

I sucked in a gasp. His skin around the wound had started to turn black.

Celeste sat on the edge of the couch. She touched the bubbled and swollen skin around the wound, and Dash passed out. I told myself it was a good thing he was unconscious, but the sight of him looking so pale and too close to death filled me with raw fear.

Ryker placed a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped. “We should give her space. Let her work.”

I shook my head, dropping down beside Dash on the floor and taking his limp hand in mine. “I can’t leave him.”

“She can stay,” Celeste said. “Her presence will be a positive energy for him to hold on to.”

“Tell me what to do,” I demanded.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing. The connection between you is powerful.” She pressed her hand over the wound. “The poison wants to spread; it’s deep, and I must draw it out.”

I pressed my lips to his palm and whispered, “Don’t leave me.”

His eyes were closed, his breathing labored, and for a split second, I thought maybe he had slipped away, but his chest rose and fell, his heart still beating. Tears pricked at my eyes, blurring my vision. The pain squeezing my heart was unspeakable. The world couldn’t be so cruel to take him from me after I had only just been given his heart, his love. It was unfair.

Celeste’s eyes clouded, like the color of a lake after a storm when the sandy bottom is disrupted, mixing in with the water. “Cool as ice, I extinguish the fire and flood out the poison.” The veins in her arms slowly began to turn black as she drew out the poison, letting it seep into her own body. She shivered, cold sweat dotting her hairline, dripping alongside her cheek, but no matter the discomfort I could see Celeste was feeling, she didn’t stop, not until the wound was clear. Then she changed tactics, chanting words I didn’t understand. In another time and place, I would have been hypnotized by her and the quiet lull of her voice.

Gently she eased back, weariness showing on her face. The wound closed and looked only like a nasty burn no larger than my fist. “It is up to him now,” Celeste said. “We’ll have our answer if he can make it through the night. He needs rest, as do I. Healing always comes at a price. It is the way of witchcraft.”

Surprise leapt into my eyes. “You were a witch before?”

“Aye, I practiced, but I wouldn’t say that I had true power, just a gift for nurturing plants and animals. Then after the mist, everything was different. I take on the pain and injury of others, my body somehow able to withstand the agony without harming me.”

“That’s incredible.”

Her shoulders slumped as she pushed to her feet, tucking a blanket draped on the back of the couch over Dash. “And also an enormous burden.”

I didn’t want to leave his side, so I stayed put. “Does the Institute know about you?”

Celeste shook her head, her bracelets clattering together. “No, I’ve been hiding here at the edge of the mist. The Night’s Guard avoids coming too close, but the mist doesn’t bother me, not like it does those who haven’t been touched by its vapors.”

Interesting. It was probably risky to test out its effects on me. The last thing I wanted was a fifth color added to the rainbow in my eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you. I owe you, Celeste. If there is anything I can do …”

“You don’t owe me anything. It is my gift, and it does not come with a price tag.”

“I won’t forget what you’ve done for him, for us.”

“He still needs to make it through the night. I’m not going to ask if you would like to rest, but if you change your mind, there is a spare room in the back of the house. It is yours if you decide to close your eyes for a bit.” She left me alone with Dash. Ryker had wandered outside not long after Celeste had started the healing process. As far as I knew, he could have shifted into the Blinken again and left me here. I wouldn’t let my mind concern itself with the guard. There was no room for him until I knew Dash would live.

My eyes drifted over Dash. It was impossible to believe that he had come so close to the brink of death. Invincible to me, seeing Dash hurt made him human. The only good thing about this world was Dash, and if I let my mind travel down the dark path of life without him, fresh tears would fall. I didn’t want to cry anymore.

Laying my head on the edge of the couch cushion near his face, I let myself waver in and out of a state of unconsciousness that wasn’t quite sleep. A few hours went by before I finally stirred, stiff and disoriented for a few seconds. Then I saw Dash. He hadn’t moved a muscle.

Standing up, I stretched out my muscles, putting feeling back into them. I leaned down and brushed the hair off his face, and my lip trembled. I needed a moment of fresh air before the waterworks came rushing back.

Outside, a quarter moon beamed over the marsh. I gazed across the swampy waters, seeing the greenish blue mist dance and sway in the air. A mild breeze fluttered my hair as I took a deep breath, expecting to smell the muddy swamp or the poison on the other side. Instead, the fragrance of flowers in moonlight tickled my senses. It was quiet and peaceful here at the edge of the Heights, even a bit dreamy—not quite as magical as the Wisps, but if someone wanted to disappear, this was the place to do it.

Sitting on the front stoop, my eyes were drawn to the toxic vapor that had changed the world, and I found myself lost in the past, in that hectic day that changed all of our lives. The terror that perfumed the air. The helplessness we all felt. And the cries for aid as the mist burned the skin, invaded the lungs, and scorched the eyes. I blinked, and the screams shifted as the past morphed into the future.

The echo of a thousand shrieks pierced my ears, but all I could see was the cloudy mist that blanketed me. I could no longer see the little cottage or the marsh. There was nothing but the mist.

Don’t fall apart. It is only a vision.

Lifting my hand in front of me, I reached out, drawing random patterns in the air, and watched the mist wrap around my fingers as I moved. I was alone and lonely… or was I? Something appeared in the mist, a dot or two. I squinted, taking a step forward but careful not to go too far. What was that? Two neon green dots glowed through the hazy fog, moving closer to me, and a chill skirted up my spine.

Instinct told me not to get closer, but where was there to go?

My breathing tripled as what could have been a pair of eyes drew near. “Hello?” I called out. “Is someone there?”

Silence. Not even the wind blew.

I stood frozen, uncertain what to do. I wanted nothing more than for the vision to end, but at the same time, I was curious. What was out there?

A hand touched my shoulder and I was jerked back to the present, staring into Ryker’s golden eyes. “Hey, you okay? I called your name, but you just looked right through me, like a ghost.”

I was cold. So very cold. Rubbing my hands up and down my arms, I nodded. “I thought I saw something.”

Ryker stiffened. “Where?”

“In the mist. I can’t be sure, but I thought I saw a pair of eyes. That’s crazy, isn’t it?” I kept my voice low.

“Do you really have to ask yourself that?”

“If what I saw is true, then is there a possibility of life beyond the mist?”

“I’m more concerned with what kind of life it is. Nothing can live within the mist for long periods without being affected, not even us who have been touched by it. Is that all you saw?”

Dumbfounded, I tilted my head. “You know I have visions?”

Ryker chuckled. “I know many things about you, Charlotte Winston.”

Any other person would have made that statement sound creepy. Yet coming from Ryker, it seemed more curious. “How long have you been watching me for the Institute?”

Ryker shook his head, waving a hand in the air. “You have it all wrong. I’m not a spy for the Institute. I’ve been feeding the network information about the movements of the Night’s Guard.”

My brows drew together. “Why would you do that? If they found out what you’ve been doing—”

“I know the risks,” Ryker cut in. “Remember when I told you that Dash found me? I owe him my life and my sanity. What the Institute did to him was wrong.”

“So you feel obligated to help a friend.” I could get behind that.

“It’s more than just that. The Institute isn’t some monster organization trying to rule this new world. Something has them nervous.”

I bit my lower lip. “Nervous enough to build an army. I’ve come to that conclusion myself. But what is it?”

Alert and tense, Ryker glanced out beyond the marsh. “We don’t know, but if the Institute doesn’t succeed in finding a way to defend the Heights, we’re going to need to be ready. They might want to keep this on the down low, but I refuse to be a sitting duck while they play in their labs.”

“And no one has seen what the threat could possibly be? What if it is the mist? What if it is not receding as the Institute thinks?” We could throw possibilities at each other all day, yet it wouldn’t give us the answers we wanted, but still, I couldn’t help contemplating.

“They have seers with the sight constantly looking, but you of all people know how unpredictable the future can be,” Ryker pointed out.

I did. It was frustrating to say the least. For example, why didn’t I have a vision of Dash getting stabbed? That was one event I would have done everything in my power to change. “Gah. This is so messed up. What am I going to do if he doesn’t wake up?” I let myself voice the question that had been running on repeat in my head. My biggest fear.

“Celeste is good at what she does. If the Institute got wind of her abilities, you can believe she would be taken from her home. Dash is in good hands. And he needs rest.”

“That’s what Celeste said, and I know that rest is the best medicine, but I really want him to open his eyes.”

“He will.”

I sighed. “I wish I had your confidence. How long can we stay here and be safe? The Institute could already be on their way. They will have figured out that one of their guards is dead. Dash left the other one wounded and alive.”

“I will try to buy you time, a couple days at the most. I have to go back for a few hours, but I promise you I will return. I won’t leave you alone.”

It was hard to be wary of Ryker when he made it too easy to lean on him. “How do I know that you’re not going to tell them where we are?”

“Blood oath?” he offered.

I shuddered, hoping he was joking. “I’ve seen enough blood.”

“And I am sure there is more to come. I know it’s a huge leap of faith, trusting me, but let me point out that I did get you to Celeste as I promised.”

“You did. I want to trust you; I really do, but I’d be a fool not to be cautious. How many times did you tell me to only trust myself?”

His lips twitched. “I lost count. So what does your gut say?”

“It’s all twisted up at the moment and not really reliable.”

“Understandable considering. You’re the only person who has ever seen me shift.”

I met his gaze. “Really?”

He nodded. “Cross my heart and hope to—”

“Don’t you dare say it,” I hissed.

“Bad timing.” His lips curled. “You know the Institute went into an uproar when they found out you escaped.”

“I just bet. You helped me. Why?” I was still coming to terms with Ryker being Blink. It was hard to think of them as the same person/bird.

“Because you and Dash are important.” He raised his hand and tucked a frazzled curl behind my ear, his fingers lingering for a few moments as regret stirred in his eyes. “As much as I might not like it, the two of you need each other.”

“Why?” I asked, confused. People kept making comments like that, but I didn’t understand what they meant.

“The seers haven’t seen why, just that together you and Dash are formidable. You’re both vital for what is coming.”

“If that is true, then Dash must wake up, because if he doesn’t, what hope is there?”

“You ask all the difficult questions, but there is always hope.” He shifted his weight, and I knew he was about to leave.

“You swear you’ll come back, and you’re not going to betray me or send the Institute straight here the moment you get there?” I asked.

His bright eyes held mine. “I swear it.”

In a blink, the man was gone. A beautiful black bird with an impressive wingspan took off into the sky, leaving me to wallow alone in my fears. I had a bad feeling… about everything.