This is another thing Reed has been doing that makes me want to trust him: refusing ownership over the wagon and our journey. He never refers to the water as his. He never assumes anything. He’s letting us lead and is happy to do so, as if he has no concern for his own well-being.

“We’re not turning around,” I insist.

Harlie nods. Reed shrugs. Asher just looks at me, frowning.

I can’t tell if they trust me or think I’m crazy. Maybe it’s both at the same time. The answer doesn’t matter. There’s no turning back. I touch my lodestone, feel a shiver pass over my brand. This is how I save my pack. It’s going to work.

That evening I sit at the tiller while the others sleep. Everything is shadowed and purple-black, so dark that if it weren’t for the stars, it would be nearly impossible to tell where the sky ended and the earth began.

Ation dances above me, her long dress fanning behind her like a river. Feder waits halfway across the sky, his shield lowered, as if the sight of the goddess has stolen his breath. They both steal mine again now, and it seems ridiculous that I can hate them but still find them so beautiful. That I want to believe in them again, even after everything.

“Do you trust him?” Asher says beside me, and I let go of the tiller in surprise. Just a moment ago he was lying with the others.

“Rusting rot, you scared me.” I scramble to recover the tiller before we drift too far off course.

“Reed,” he goes on. “He’s been acting strange. Talking like he doesn’t care what happens. He’s up to something.”

“If he was still loyal to the General, an army would have shown up at Harlie’s Hope long before we left it.”

“Maybe they’ll be waiting for us when we return. If we return.”

I sigh. “The way he’s been talking . . . I think he’s just trying to show that he’s loyal to us now. It’s a sacrifice, of sorts. A surrender.”

“It’s reckless,” Asher responds. “Brash. The kind of behavior that gets you killed.”

I cock up a brow. “Like running from Powder Town to follow a map through uncrossable desert?”

“Exactly like that. Preservation would have meant staying in Powder Town, but I’m just a coward. A coward who keeps chasing his best chance at staying alive.”