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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

And that was it. She hung there feeling confused and cheated. Then embarrassed and annoyed with herself.

“Ashyn?” he called as she began walking away.

She looked back.

“You are doing fine,” he said. “We’re going to make it.”

She nodded and hurried to her sleeping blanket.

Twenty-nine

Twenty-nine

They found no water the next morning, and the sun seemed hotter than ever. Ashyn remembered tales of travelers to Edgewood, those who’d come late in summer, when some of the oases had gone dry. They’d told of having to drink their own urine. I could never be so desperate, she’d thought at the time. By midday she was reconsidering.

They’d found an outcropping of rock that provided some shade for a rest. Wenda was so weak she’d fallen straight asleep. Once the sun started to drop, they’d headed off again, but Wenda could barely walk, and when they prodded her, she’d vomited, losing what little liquid her body had retained. Neither had the strength to carry her. As for Tova, the hound was the worst off of them all, trapped in his heavy coat.

After Ashyn settled Wenda into her sleeping blankets, she found Ronan sitting guard.

“How is she?” he asked.

Poorly. That was the truth, but he didn’t need to hear it. “Well enough.”

He shifted as if restless. When he noticed she was still standing, he waved for her to sit, but as soon as she did, he stood and peered out across the lava plains.

“I know you want to keep moving,” she said.

He looked down, as if startled. Then he gave a short laugh. “No. Well, yes, I would but . . . Do you know what I’m truly doing?”

“What?”

He lowered himself again. “Promise not to laugh?”

“Of course.”

“I’m looking for water to steal.”

She choked on a laugh.

“You promised,” he said, waggling his finger. “Yes, I know, it’s ridiculous. Obviously there’s no one here to steal water from. I just can’t shake the urge. That’s how I was raised. If you need something and you don’t have it, you take it from someone else.”

She nodded and watched Tova as he settled in beside her.

Ronan’s gaze slid her way. “You’ve never asked me why I was condemned to the forest. I’ll presume that means you’d rather not know.”

“No,” she said. “I don’t ask because that would be rude.”

Now it was his turn to sputter a laugh. Then he leaned his shoulder against hers, briefly, but enough to make her cheeks heat.