“The humans are going to come after us. I don’t know when, but it could start anytime. They’re going to hunt down the tribe,” Luce announced, then waited a second for this to sink in. “You have to show everyone, Rachel. It’s your job to make sure they understand. Do you hear me?” At first Rachel only gaped, but after a moment she pulled herself together just enough to nod. “You all have to get away from here. Find someplace where the humans aren’t looking and stay hidden . . .” Luce heard how her voice was rising now, getting harder and more urgent. “No matter what Anais tells you, you all have to run away!”

∗ ∗ ∗

When Luce came close to Dorian’s village she saw that almost all the boats, including his rowboat, had been hauled out of the water and lined up on a bank dense with brown grass. The boats were all set upside down on trestles, probably to keep them from getting damaged by the ice. She and Dorian wouldn’t be able to go to their secret cave anymore, Luce realized. Not until the spring. She doubled back and found him sitting on the snow-covered beach, almost exactly in the spot where she’d thrown him ashore six months earlier. He was doing homework and didn’t notice her at first, and Luce watched him in silence. Only six months ago, Luce thought. How could so much have happened in such a short time? Dorian looked up and straight into her eyes.

“Hey, baby,” he said sadly, and leaned out to kiss her. “Looks like we’ve lost the boat for a while.”

She hadn’t thought Dorian was beautiful when she’d first seen him, but she did now. He seemed gorgeous to her sitting there in the dusk with his dark blond-bronze hair and full pale lips, his amber-tinted skin, his air of tattered nobility. And, she realized, the dark sparkling of the indication was almost completely gone from around him. Luce felt oddly shy. She didn’t want to tell him how she’d gone to warn the tribe, in case he was angry with her for risking another fight. After a second she decided not to mention the slick of ice covering the water in her cave either. But keeping quiet about all the important things left her with nothing to say. They were too close to his village here for her to sing to him.

Instead she kissed him. She kissed him fervently for hours, clinging to his shoulders as if something was trying to tear her away.