I found the cavern dark and empty. Good, I thought, stripping down out of my clothes and ignoring the pup, who scampered off into the shadows. I should have minded the darkness now that the Huntress was back. Anything could be lurking. If I lit the torches, however, I would have to see my reflection on the surface of the steaming pool.

I slid beneath the water, letting it run through my hair and over my shut eyes and lips. The warmth held me, and its touch was almost human. I ignored the tears that mingled with the water and waved off the pup, who had settled down next to me to gnaw on my ear. She was not so easily deterred. Sighing, I lowered my head until only my lips and nose floated above the water, removing myself from her reach.

This time of day at home I would be spinning, or perhaps wandering the village to put off the long companionable silence of the looming winter evening.

No.

Any dissatisfaction I may have had with the village could be surmounted if only I could return. I could get used to Avery. I could get used to a life of mindless superstition, sitting around the hearth and telling stories of harsh winters past.

My mind trembled, trapped between the worlds.

There had to be a way out.

I let the water work the knots out of muscles tight with anger and tried to think, pushing down the unease that thoughts of returning to Avery Lockland stirred.

The Huntress was back. However much I wanted to hate her, I could not escape alone. I needed more information about why I was here and where in the hundred thousand hells we were, and to do that I needed to find a way to actually get information.

The library.

I jerked out of the water, startling the pup, and almost laughed. I had a library right here. Surely somewhere in one of the scrolls was something I could use if I only knew what to look for. I had been an idiot not to see it before; there had to be some sort of record in the library of this place, and if not, the library’s contents should be able to tell me something about the people who built it. I could begin my search tonight. The anger I’d felt earlier ebbed and the comfort of purpose settled over me, reassuring in its weight, until a fall of torchlight blinded me. I threw a hand over my face to shield my eyes and felt the surge of hope shatter around me, leaving me naked and raw in the curling steam.

“I—,” she said.