“She’s right,” Vince said, and he slowed them down. He was sweating and pale, and she couldn’t imagine the agony he was going through. His left hand rested between the buttons of his shirt, and there was no saying how badly the arm was broken. At least she couldn’t see bone protruding anywhere.

Angela glanced back and Mallian was out of sight, somewhere down in the remains of Longford and hidden from view by folds in the landscape. In some ways it was even worse not being able to see him.

They stopped and she could see the memory of Lilou’s horrific death flickering behind Vince’s eyes. It would play on a loop in his mind forever—and in hers.

They stood by the remains of an old wall on the beginnings of the valley slope, stones slumped down and mostly covered with dried silt. A few small plants had made a home in cracks in the silt, taking root in the short time since the reservoir had drained. Life found a way everywhere.

“I don’t see what we can do,” Angela said.

“Nothing here,” Vince said. He looked at Sammi. “Right?”

“Nothing on this side,” she said.

“You want to go back?” she asked, aghast.

“Not without you. Nowhere without you.” He held her tight around the shoulders, half turned aside to protect his arm. It needed tending to, perhaps splinting, but there was no time. “But it’s the last place he’ll expect us to go, and we have to do something to try and stop him. This is what Mallian has wanted for years, the power to stand. This is Ascent, and he’s not going to waste his time. He’ll call his supporters to him, somehow, and with Grace on his side...” He shook his head. “Lilou knew. You must have talked about it with her.”

“We didn’t talk about much, really. Staying hidden. Catching rabbits to eat. You.”

Vince blinked, and she saw a sadness that might never wane.

“He’s cast a spell back in the Fold that gives him control over Grace, so if we’ve any hope of reversing it, it’s back there.” He looked at Sammi.

“We don’t know what Sammi’s capable of,” Angela said. She feared for her niece, and their brief dash had revealed how weak she still was from the taste of magic she had already used.

“Neither do I,” Sammi said. “Won’t know without trying.”

“What’s in there?” Angela asked. She couldn’t deny that part of her wanted to go into the Fold to see. She’d been in there before, briefly, but she’d been looking for Sammi, and in fleeing had no time to take in her surroundings. Grace might have made that place anything.