“Rianne saved the boys from the dire wolf. Then, as I was taking what I thought was my final breath, Torrent lifted the carriage to save me.”

My hands flare.

“How did Rianne save them from that beast?” It’s all my tired brain can think of to ask.

Lorna shrugs.

“Remember those grimshkas? Turns out they aren’t always cute and fluffy.”

“Turn left there, next to that bent tree,” Rianne instructs.

Lorna tugs the reins, and we shift direction as Torrent and Lin continue to bicker. My heart and mind race with a thousand questions, but the night is cold, and I’m alive. That’s enough for now.

“Where are we going?”

“Where do you think?” She answers without looking at me. “We’re going to save him.”

“Him?”

She huffs a laugh. “Braze. The idiot himself.”

“He’s in danger?” My breathing escalates.

The horse neighs as Lorna pulls on the reins and lets Lin and Rianne lead the way into a small village. A worn sign creaking in the wind reads: Pathstowe.

“We aren’t sure. Nuri said the last she saw him, he was in The Wood, chasing after you and screaming your name.”

“Chasing after me? Why would he do that? Unless…” I murmur. The question I’ve been plagued with all those days in the cell finally answered.

He didn’t betray me.

I grab the horse’s mane as we begin to trot.

“Then what? After he chased me, what happened?”

There’s a long moment of silence.

“Then…darkness,” Lorna finally says. “Nuri can’t see him anymore.”

“Oh, gods,” I breathe.

Torrent trots up beside us and looks me over, his hazel eyes alight.

“So, now it’s his turn to be saved,” he says and flashes his audacious grin. “Are you in?”

I look around and then up to the stars. A radical heat flushes through me.

“Yes,” I say and nod. “I’m in.”

Torrent howls into the night sky, and I sense Lorna break into a smile.

I’m coming for you, Braizen. Wherever you are, whatever has happened, no matter what it might cost.

It is better to die together than to live apart.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Writing and creating stories has been something I’ve wanted to do since I was a toddler. It’s true. I would present my mother with books I wrote with crayons and she would also encourage me to keep it up. (Thanks, Mom! You are THE BEST.)

As I got older, I never stopped writing and reading, but the dream of actually publishing a book got thrown out the window. Thankfully, due to a lot of people in my life, that dream came back full swing.