“How did you get out of the station?”

“There was an open window. I saw it when we came in.”

Brigette fumbled for Malita and squeezed her in a tight hug. “Thank the gods. I was sure those Magicians were about to find me.”

Malita patted Brigette’s back. “We should not stay here much longer.”

After breaking into the dry goods store, the girls raided the shelves, taking as much food as they could carry and leaving money on the counter on their way out. They stopped briefly at the fountain to fill their new waterskins. Although Brigette’s feet felt as heavy as lead and her head was pounding again, she managed to keep up with Malita as they raced out of town and ducked into the cover of the vineyard.

Brigette formed another red light to announce their presence and light their small encampment. Niffin appeared from the gloom and threw his arms around Malita as she tossed off the Thunder Cloak. Brigette didn’t understand his words, but she heard the relief in his tone.

Gideon’s big shadow sidled up to Brigette and took her load of supplies. “Any trouble?” he asked, peering at the tins of sardines and olives she’d collected.

“The Council was there, looking for us.” She crouched and set out the enamel bowl she’d been carrying under her arm. She filled it with water from one of her skins until its surface bulged like a convex mirror. “They had a wanted poster they were showing around town. It seemed like there were only two of them. Nobody saw us, but we should still be careful.”

Gideon grunted deep in his throat, a sound of agreement. He cracked open a tin of sardines with his knife, not offering to share with Brigette. He wasn’t threatening to throttle her, but he wasn’t dishing out forgiveness or friendship, either. Brigette thought about it and decided she could live with that arrangement.

While the group settled down to eat dinner, she lit candles, placing them around her water bowl. She opened the atlas to a page showing the Vinitzian borders and the surrounding countries, seas, and oceans. From her pocket she removed a coin, a perfect match to the coins she’d given Evie and Gideon earlier, and set it on the map. She leaned over the water bowl, staring at her reflection, and let her gaze go unfocused.

“What are you doing?” Malita asked.

“Scrying. Now... everyone be quiet.”

Brigette drew on her Magic, and a hazy image swam to the surface of her liquid mirror: a ship with a single mast and a paddlewheel at the stern. Evie stood at the bow, moonlight glowing on her white dress, winds whipping her dark hair. The coin on the map shifted, sliding into Isolas bay then curving around a jutting peninsula on Vinitzia’s east coast before cruising into the Antellic Ocean.

Brigette blinked and leaned back, rubbing her eyes until her vision returned to normal. “Looks like Faercourt is taking the long way home.”

“We could surveil Fallstaff and then be set up to intercept Jackie and Evie before they get there,” Gideon said, “assuming that’s where they’re headed.”

“I’ll scry her again later to be sure they haven’t changed course.”

“Getting to Inselgrau ahead of them will mean we have to take the train,” Niffin said.

“I don’t know about the rest of you,” Gideon said, “but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“So you think we’ll get to Inselgrau several days before Evie and Faercourt?”

“Probably,” Gideon said. “Unless there’s trouble along the way that slows us down. Why do you ask?”

“Getting there before them gives us an advantage. I think we should figure out how best to use it.”

Chapter 27

“We took the train across the Continent to Pecia, caught a ship to Braddock, and rode almost nonstop to Fallstaff,” Brigette said.

“And the Council wasn’t a problem?” I asked.

“We kept a low profile,” Gideon said.

I snorted, uncertain how they’d managed to accomplish such a feat. A Fantazike, a Magician, a warrior, and a fierce girl from Agridan travelling together should have raised a few eyebrows along the way. But Brigette’s Magic had undoubtedly helped them remain incognito. I wasn’t as fatalistic as Jackie, but more than mere coincidence had brought Brigette into my life, and I was grateful for her presence.

“Where are Niffin and Malita?” I asked.

“They’re safe,” Brigette said. “We’ll catch up with them soon.”

Her answer raised more questions, but with Jackie’s sharp ears listening, I didn’t dare ask her for details. My companions had been scheming in my absence. I trusted Gideon would tell me their plans when the time was right.

Although the night shrouded us, the forest felt familiar. I had likely ridden through it countless times before. Perhaps the darkness should have intimidated me, made me fearful of all the things I couldn’t see. But I was home. I was where I was supposed to be. No monsters in the dark were going to chase me away again.

The rough terrain and gloom made it hard to judge distances, but we trekked at least another mile before Gideon raised his hand, silently calling us to stop. He slipped two fingers between his lips and blew a shrill, short whistle. Moments later, a similar whistle answered from somewhere deeper in the woods.

Brigette clicked her tongue, and Jackie marched forward, leading the way into a small glade. A stone hut hunched at the edge of the clearing, and warm yellow light spilled from the window. A wide, squat figure holding a lantern stood in the hut’s doorway.

My heart surged, and I raced across the glade. “Gerda? Is that you?”

My beloved nursemaid held her arms open wide, and I threw myself into her embrace. Tears burned in my eyes and swelled in my throat.

“H-How?” I stuttered. “Why?”

She stroked my hair and cooed soothing sounds in my ear the way she had when I was a girl and something had scared or upset me. “Don’t act so surprised to see me, my girl. You didn’t think I’d abandon you, did you? ’Specially not in your hour of need.”

“I only ever hoped you and your family had gone somewhere safe.”

“Oh, we did.”

“So what are you doing here?”

“I promised your father I’d always be here when you needed me. Right now, I don’t think you’ve ever needed me more.” She released me and tilted her head toward the door. “I have food inside. Drinks. Come in and have a rest. Sleep if you can. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a very long day.”

“Tomorrow?” I followed her inside and paused, struggling to master my emotions when I found Niffin and Malita inside, curled up on the floor in front of an empty fireplace.

Niffin winked at me, purple eyes glinting with mischief.

Malita waggled her fingers, offering a coy smile. “Surprise.”

I sank to my knees and threw my arms around them. “You don’t know how relieved I am to see you both here.”

A rustle of movement and a heavy footstep signaled Gideon’s entrance. He bent to keep from knocking his head on the low doorway. His hair was a mess of cowlicks, and he looked tired. At the same time, he’d never looked better because he was here, in person, with me.

He stripped off his crossbow and bandolier, dropped them on the dining table, then sank to the floor beside me and pulled me close. “Let’s hope this is the end of our long separations for a while.”

I relaxed against him, inhaling his familiar scent—leather, horses, and sweat. After all we’d been through, none of us smelled particularly fresh, but I couldn’t have cared less. “For forever, if I have anything to say about it.”

His grip tightened. “Forever?”

I blushed, realizing the implication of my words, but before I could explore my feelings about sharing forever with Gideon, Brigette and Jackie trudged into the hut. With a flick of her wrist, she sent him stumbling onto a stool in the corner. Anger and hatred blazed in his eyes, but Brigette ignored him. She tapped a finger against her lip as she inspected the platter of homemade turnovers on the small kitchen table next to Gideon’s pile of weapons.

The tiny hut barely offered enough room for all of us and the smattering of humble furniture. A single bed huddled in one corner, and a tattered old armchair squatted before the fireplace.