When she rose from her swag after another sleepless night, she’d noticed a difference in the glass case around her mind. One of the tiny cracks had healed. A miniscule change. Romy could only put it down to her “floating experience” yesterday. She wondered if maybe it had healed because she chose the right path. The fog was still thick in her mind. But as the knot and two men marched ahead of her, Romy clung to this infinitesimal difference. The crack had healed. It had to mean something.

It gave her hope that whatever was broken could be fixed.

“I heard them talking last night.” She spoke to Thrym as they paused either side of a eucalyptus tree. Romy could tell by the direction of the sun they weren’t heading towards the middle of Australia anymore. They were moving north, keeping up a fast walk with barely any stops. If the sun hadn’t been there, Romy would have no idea. The bush repeated over and over, only interrupted by the occasional dip and crest. Atlas and Houston seemed to know exactly where they were going, she thought darkly.

Thrym jerked in surprise. She didn’t blame him. This might be the first time she’d spoken to him in days and her voice sounded like she’d screamed into a pillow for a week straight.

He looked ahead after a moment. “What were they saying?”

“That I was the key. The answer to their problem.”

Her friend took a long time to mull this over. Too long. “You don’t believe me,” she whispered. The realisation made her want to vomit.

He was quick to reply. “Romy. No. Don’t think that. It’s just . . . well, you’ve been a bit paranoid. And—”

A bitter taste flooded her mouth. “You don’t believe your own knot mate?” Some friend he was.

Thrym grabbed her arm and swung her around. She wrenched her arm free, her right fist curled tightly.

His brows drew together as he struggled to form the words.

“What is it?” Her voice could lash bark from a tree.

He looked her square in the eyes. “That,” he said. “That’s ‘it’.”

She gave him a flat look.

“You’re unstable, Ro. And I couldn’t care less if you’re the key, or that this could be a trap. Houston is the only person who may be able to fix you and that’s all that matters right now.”

Romy stared at him in disbelief. “That’s your reason for following them?” she said, her voice growing in strength. “I thought you had an actual plan, Thrym.” A sharp pain lanced through her and Romy gathered from Thrym’s startled expression that its cruel passage had flashed on her face.

“I only agreed because I thought you had a plan,” she scoffed before turning away.