“You say there’s already water freezing in the bathrooms upstairs?” Karo keeps on. A half laugh. “The place is turning into an ice palace around us.”

“Okay.” Maeve sets the lid firmly back into place. “Maybe you need a little fresh air. I’ll hold the door open for you. Might make you feel better—”

Karo just stares at her.

Maeve pauses, not sure whether to keep talking or just forget it. Karo leans forward and peels back the blanket, revealing her legs. Her feet in their wool socks are curled, cramped beyond any of Maeve’s expectations. Each foot a crescent moon, a sickle, an exaggerated arching pointe.

“I can’t.”

Maeve wets her lip with her tongue, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“It could get so bad so quickly?”

“I’m sorry,” Maeve says again.

Karolina smooths the blanket back in place, then reaches down to massage her foot through the layers. Gingerly, as though it hurts to touch.

“I haven’t been off the meds in five years. A lot can change in that time.” She takes a breath and pushes it out, then looks at Maeve. “But you’re right. It’s my job, isn’t it? To know what’s out there?” There’s a beat, and Maeve feels almost wary, as though Karo might be about to lose her composure or fly off the handle completely. Instead her face just hardens. “But I can’t,” she says. “So you’re going to go for me. Outside.” When Maeve starts to shake her head, Karo cuts it off quickly. “I need you to do a perimeter check, because I can’t. I need to know if there’s anyone coming for us.”

Maeve feels her stomach drop, and she sinks onto the arm of the couch. She thinks of the shadow the night before, back where the trees begin. And in her dreams, that strange, dark presence, closing in. Maeve, outside, lost in a storm.

She knows it’s irrational. She still doesn’t want to go out there.

“In the toolbox in my office, you’ll find some fluorescent ties—take those with you and use them as markers. The color will stand out against the snow.” She means the markers will help Maeve orient herself, find her way back. She’ll be out there alone this time. “Go down as far as the main gates, if you can,” Karo says. “And as far again to the rear in case they’re coming up the back road. You don’t need to go all the way out along the ridge, not as far as we went together. Just to where it begins, to the break in the trees where the path used to be.”

At the mention of the word trees, Maeve balks. She feels pushed into this, like she can’t say no. Karo at her back, nudging her, urging her on.

“I don’t think—” she begins. Is it even safe to leave Karo on her own?