“Perhaps one of the old violet crones survived the past sixty years,” Carys grumbled. “Witches have been known to live longer than humans, some as long as fae, with magic to aid them.”

“Maybe.” Lina rubbed her temples, smearing the bronzed paint that dotted above her eyebrows.

Crouching over a body, Bri reached for the carved mask. “These masks seem made in the East. The lion for one, and the way it’s carved . . .”

She pulled back the mask to reveal wide, bloodshot eyes.

Then they blinked.

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Before she could withdraw, the assailant slashed out with his knife, nicking Bri in the hip. He booted her in the knee, sending her toppling as Carys brought her sword down through his chest.

Flailing, Bri flew backward, tumbling down the rocky hillside. She faintly heard her name being screamed by her two comrades as she scrambled for purchase on the sliding blanket of leaves. The roar of the river filled her ears as her fingertips scraped against jagged stone. The icy shock of the frigid water knocked the air from her lungs as her legs hit the rapids. The water still bore the sting of the snow-capped High Mountains, staggeringly cold despite the warm air.

“Hang on!” Lina shouted, rushing down the steep slope.

The river sucked more of her body into its chilled depths as her torso was swallowed by the mighty currents. Her raw fingertips dug tighter into the stone. She couldn’t pull herself up against the force of the rushing water.

Lina reached her first, Carys right behind. Grabbing Bri’s forearm in a viselike grip, Lina hauled her up an inch and then another.

Bri looked up the bank to see a figure looming on the hillside above them.

“Look out!” she shouted.

Carys was already unsheathing her sword before the words escaped her lips, the look in Bri’s eyes warning enough.

His arm was barely hanging on to his shoulder, blood gushed down his body, and yet, he stood on two feet. What magic possessed these attackers? How was he still alive? Were these fae turned into monsters like the lion with the tusks of a boar?

The soldier’s glassy eyes looked vacantly through the trees. Before Carys could reach him, he stumbled down the hillside. He had no weapon in hand, and his intentions became suddenly clear.

“Gods,” Carys cursed, sheathing her blade and dodging out of the way of his battering-ram body. She reached out to yank him to the side, but her fingers grasped nothing but air as he careened into Lina.

Lina and Bri smashed into the water, the force of the collision hurtling them into the icy currents.

“No!” Carys’s scream was cut off as Bri’s head plunged underwater.