I followed her finger, but I couldn’t see anything. But then something moved, and I caught a glimpse of silver hair, flashing in a ray of moonlight as a Svarestri warrior leapt from one branch to another. And then caught fire when Rhea sent a fireball blistering at him through the air.

A very undignified yelp drifted down to us, and the fey took off. But no one else followed, because despite the barrage we’d just suffered, there appeared to be only one. And that was the best news I’d heard all day.

“Where are you going?” Guinn demanded, as I jumped to my feet.

“After him!”

“What? But he’s leaving—”

“I know.”

“So, let him go!”

“Not a chance—”

“Why?”

“I need answers!” I said, before running full out—into the side of the shield that Rhea had thrown back up. “Drop it!” I told her, staggering back, and she, at least, didn’t argue.

She dropped it, and I took off after the fleeing fey.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I jumped up, grabbed a protruding knot maybe ten feet off the ground, and scaled the trunk of the tree like I’d been born to it. I hadn’t, but Mircea’s abilities negated a lot of my mistakes, steadying my hands, ramping up my speed, and allowing me to catch the arrow that came tearing by my face. And to whip it back at the fey.

I could almost hear Mircea laugh at the fey’s surprised expression as he had to dodge his own weapon, but I didn’t laugh along. I was too busy tearing through the trees, pushing both mine and Mircea’s abilities to the limit to catch up. It was easier than I’d thought to leap from branch to branch, even at a dead run, since many of them overlapped and smaller limbs and leaves and forest gunk had formed a thatch underfoot.

It almost looked deliberate, as if the tree branches had been trained to grow together and create pathways in the sky. But if they had, the system had broken down long ago, with large boughs hanging low enough to threaten me with decapitation, forcing me to duck or jump, and sizeable gaps in the path underfoot showing dizzyingly long drops if I missed a step. But I couldn’t slow down, no matter how much I would have liked to.

Because the fey wasn’t alone.

I could see a camp, glimmering through the trees, in the distance. The leafy walls and dense tree cover had hidden it from the ground, but it was clearly visible up here, twinkling with dozens of campfires. I could also see it in the fey’s mind, with Mircea’s abilities grabbing hold of his consciousness as I raced along. I used the connection to stop him from alerting anyone to our presence by calling out or blowing the horn at his waist, which seemed to work.