“There it is!” Karas cried, looking up at the cliff and beyond to the blue sky. She kicked her horse into a gallop, and Darsal followed.

The green book bound in red twine sat in her saddlebag, begging to be used, and use it she would. As soon as they cleared the danger presented by the Shataiki.

Black bats rimmed the cliff, peering down, squawking, but otherwise they presented no threat. Alucard had kept his word. The fact that he could only gain through this trade wasn’t lost on Darsal, but neither was the fact that she’d done what was necessary to follow Billos. They would work a way out of their troubles together.

Karas didn’t need to urge her mount onto the switchbacks that led to the desert above them. The horse surged up the incline, leaning into each step.

Now that she had the book, Darsal had to consider what course to take with the girl. In hindsight, she might have asked the Roush to wait in the desert and escort the girl back to the forest. As it was now, she would have to send Karas back alone with all the water and clear directions.

The girl knew the desert, after all, and it had been her choice to follow.

Darsal galloped past the girl into the desert as soon as they spilled over the lip. “Go!” They rode hard for twenty minutes before she finally eased up to give the horses a rest.

“Not fun,” Karas said. “This whole business is reckless.”

“Welcome to life in the forests.”

“Thank you for making my point. We’re in the desert, not the forest.”

Darsal grunted. “We’ll stop in the outcropping for a proper rest,” she said.

An hour later the large outcropping rose before them, and Darsal’s palms began to sweat with the anticipation of cutting her finger and thrusting the blood against the book’s cover.

“You’re not afraid?” Karas asked, breaking a long spell of silence.

She’d already told Karas how Billos had vanished. “Like I said, life in the forests. We live with fear, little girl.”

“Sounds like the Horde.”

A dozen boulders towered four times the height of their horses ahead, surrounded by one or two score smaller rocks. It would make for an ideal camp; she would have to remember its location.

“I think I should come with you, Sister,” Karas said.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Why not?”

“For starters, I don’t know where I’m going. For all I know, Billos vanished into oblivion. And regardless of where it is, getting back must not be easy or Billos would have done so already. We could get stuck.”

“We?”

“Billos and I.”

“And me?”

Darsal sighed. “It wasn’t my idea for you to—”

“I don’t care if it wasn’t your idea!” Karas blurted. “I’m here, aren’t I?”