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Back Sea of Shadows
Chapters (61)
  1. Dedication
  2. Prologue
  3. Ashyn: One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Moria: Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Ashyn: Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Moria: Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Ashyn: Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Moria: Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Ashyn: Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight
  51. Forty-nine
  52. Moria: Fifty
  53. Fifty-one
  54. Fifty-two
  55. Fifty-three
  56. Fifty-four
  57. Fifty-five
  58. About the Author
  59. Back Ad
  60. Credits
  61. About the Publisher

She felt a dampness on her cheek. Not a kiss, but a . . . lick. Tova nudged Ronan aside. At the same moment that she realized it was not a dream, she noticed the anxiety in Ronan’s dark eyes and the tightness in his voice.

She started to scramble up, but he grasped her shoulder and whispered, “Shhh,” motioning for her not to wake the others.

She blinked and looked around. Tova was sitting beside her now, wide awake. Gregor’s snores said he was sleeping soundly. Across the campsite, Wenda seemed to be doing the same, in the blankets she shared with Beatrix. Except the older woman wasn’t there.

“Bea—” Ashyn began.

Ronan shushed her again. “I saw her go to relieve herself. But it’s been too long. I thought it better if you checked on her. It could be a . . . female problem.”

Ashyn suspected Beatrix was well past any such “problems,” but in any event, he was right—Beatrix would panic if a stranger came after her in the night, particularly after what had happened with Wenda. Remembering that, though . . .

“I can’t leave Wenda alone with Gregor,” Ashyn whispered.

Ronan cursed under his breath.

“I’ll go,” she said. “You wait here.”

He peered into the night. Even the moon’s light seemed to shun this place. They’d used the lanterns judiciously, but the last one had run out the night before.

“I’ll follow a bit, while staying close to camp,” he said.

She nodded and stood.

“You have your blade?” Ronan whispered.

She nodded again, and withdrew it. Then she set out with Tova.

Twenty-six

Twenty-six

Ashyn headed across the plain. When her foot touched down on sand, the change came as such a surprise that her boot almost slid out from under her.

Yes, she remembered now—they’d stopped at one of the rare sandy areas, setting up camp on a patch where scrubby cacti had taken hold. It’d been two days since they’d passed the last oasis, and Wenda had spotted red flowers on the cacti nearly fifty paces off the road. She’d insisted they stop early so they could camp there, where the ground was soft. Ashyn had known she ought to refuse—they had to use every moment of sunlight, but the girl had been so entranced by the flowers, and Beatrix’s old bones had ached so much from sleeping atop rock. Ashyn hadn’t had the heart to refuse.

She adjusted her stride for the sand. It did feel better. Softer. Slower, though, too, as each step slid a little. There were patches of rock, and she found herself steering toward them, to pick up the pace. Tova figured out what she was doing and led the way across the rock.