We step through, and my feet hit a cobblestone path. Sculpted hedges grow to our knees on each side. The walkway winds and curves in front of us, veering apart in some places and meeting up again farther down. A giant maze with small gardens planted in the middle of each crossing path. Roman holds out his elbow like I’m a lady he’s taking for a walk in the garden with our chaperone trailing behind.

“I’m not in the mood for this.”

“Take my arm and act natural.”

The other side of the maze opens to a field of ferns. Roman glances over his shoulder once before stepping into them and pulling me with him.

“Tell me where we’re going.”

“Not yet.” He looks back again. The hairs on my arms stand in response to whatever threat he senses that I don’t.

I keep my mouth shut as we reach the end of the ferns and start down a narrow path through a dense forest. The fog grows so thick that I can’t see anything at all, and I don’t know we’ve reached anything until my boots squelch into mud.

I pause, and Roman has to pull me forward as the fog shifts to reveal the edges of a lake.

Roman crouches and then springs out over the water, landing on a billow of fog.

“Are you coming?” He holds out a hand toward me.

I shake my head. I haven’t mastered floating on clouds or water or whatever’s holding him aloft.

He waves a hand, and the mist rolls back from the water directly in front of us, gathering in a dense cloud on either side of a floating bridge—if you could even call it that. Whole sections dip sideways into the gently lapping water while some boards are missing altogether.

He frowns at my expression, which says he’s a fool if he thinks I’m following him, and holds out his hand again. “You need to see what I’m going to show you.”

“Not this bad.”

He doesn’t answer, just waits, giving me time to accept what he already knows I’m going to do.

I shrug like it’s no big deal. I don’t even take his hand. The water’s not deep here, and I may not be able to swim, but I can certainly stand on my own. I slosh into the water up to my knees to where the bridge begins and place one soaking boot on a plank. It bobs under my weight.

I sense him waiting to catch me if I lose my footing, and it makes me grit my teeth and drag my other foot up. I brush past him and hop onto the next board.