“What a pleasure it is to be reunited with my dear grandchildren.” As Rosalind tumbled through the shimmering wall of mist to land, panting, on her knees by their feet, Lady Elianora’s lips curved into a smile of vicious satisfaction. “This time, I promise you, our little family visit will end very differently!”

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Cordelia shifted in an instant. Fur and muscles and sharp, predatory teeth—

“Ah-ah-ah! I don’t think so.” Magic shot through their linked arms in a piercing blast of cold. Gasping, Cordelia landed hard on her knees in her own true form. Lady Elianora shook her head down at her pityingly. Her grip was an iron clamp around Cordelia’s wrist. “You really thought I wouldn’t prepare for this encounter, after all that you revealed to me last time?”

“All that you revealed …”

A convulsive flinch ran down Cordelia’s spine. Her gaze flicked swiftly to Giles—still watching them with panicked blue eyes—and to Rosalind, who was pushing herself heavily to her feet with the long metal sword in her grasp.

Behind them rose the sparkling wall of mist, their only protection against the waiting soldiers. Before them rose the trees that covered Mount Corve, all clothed in a mysterious and primeval dark green, their ancient trunks knotted and looming. No birds called in those powerful, twisted branches, but Cordelia could feel hidden eyes fixed upon her and her family, silently watching their human catastrophe unfold in the shadowed, murky mountain air.

“Oh, but how interesting,” Lady Elianora murmured. “I find myself wondering: Have you actually shared with your—siblings—all that you learned from me?”

“Step away from our sister, Grandmother.” Rosalind was still flushed and panting from her own trip through the mist, but she raised the heavy sword in a practiced move and aimed it steadily at Lady Elianora. “Let Cordy go.”

“So she really hasn’t told you!” Lady Elianora tipped her head back with a billowing laugh, her long nails digging sharply into Cordelia’s wrist. “Oh, this is delightful. All of the best family secrets can come out to play!”

“What are you talking about?” Giles’s face was pale and haunted in the shadows of the knobbly tree branches that arched over them all, twisting and tangling together into a cage. “Cordy? What’s going on?”

Numbly, Cordelia shook her head. I was supposed to have more time!

Power, deep and ancient, thrummed against her knees from the cool, damp ground beneath the thin fabric of her dirty dress. Tiny leftover scraps of mist crept and curled across the dark moss around her.

Old magic.

The tug of the hook in her chest was a dull, persistent throb. They were so close to Raven’s Nest. If only she had been faster! If only she hadn’t had to stop so often to rest!

“One more chance, Grandmother.” Rosalind held her sword steady. “Let Cordy go, or else.”