He stopped, glanced out the cave mouth into the desert, and then back at Rika. “Winter can’t walk here.” He nodded. “The Winter Queen is unable to be here . . . but Keenan fears her.”

“Exactly.” Rika nodded.

At that, Sionnach came to crouch in front of her. He almost looked meek for a moment. “Oh, princess . . . together we are strong enough. We didn’t need her.”

“I disagree. I can deal with the solitaries—with or without you—but she gives me peace from him.” Rika didn’t want to admit her weakness, not even now that she felt like she was finally well and truly free of Keenan. He’d been an obstacle to her peace of mind for almost her entire life.

Keenan is standing in the middle of a path in the middle of a forest. “Don’t run from me.”

“I want you gone.” Ice crystals fall from Rika’s eyes with tiny clatters. All around her it’s summer, but here, in the small circle nearest her, it’s frost-filled.

“I told you. These are the rules. You have to talk to the next mortal I choose.”

“No.”

“As long as none of them take up the test, you’re the Winter Girl.” He reaches out to her. “Remember how much you said you loved me? This is what I need from you.”

“I hate you.” Rika backs up. The ice backs up with her. “I never want to see you again.”

He sighs. “Our lives are tied together. You’ll never stop seeing me.”

“Stay. Away. From. Me.” She turns and runs into the woods, leaving icy footprints behind her like a trail.

Rika shivered. “I won’t have Keenan in my desert. I made decisions to fix it. Now, all we need to do is deal with Maili.”

After a moment, Sionnach asked hopefully, “We?”

“Yes, we. You’re a fox faery, Shy. I can’t expect you to think like a mortal,” she said gently. If she stayed angry every time he was what he was, they’d never have become friends. She knew that, but she’d needed to calm down before she could even speak with him. Yes, she was hurt, but she also realized that she should have been more suspicious of his actions; she’d known him too long to be so blindly trusting. She could simply have asked him what his motives were in helping her to be with Jayce. For all his flaws, Sionnach would never directly lie to her; she simply hadn’t been paying close attention.

The fox faery grinned. “Really? We fight together?”

Jayce walked over to stand beside Rika and Sionnach. “Don’t get too sure of yourself,” he cautioned.

Sionnach shrugged and held out a hand to Rika. “Shall we let them know they have two Alphas now, princess? Be my co-Alpha for real?”

Rika glanced at Jayce.