snow. I feel it as surely as I feel Winter warming my gut, both of them wanting my good opinion, both of them needing me to see the world as they see it.
I back away, retreating to the only safe place I know—the driver’s seat of the Sylver Dragon.
“Take the lookout,” I say, tossing Drypp’s gun out the door. I don’t need him following me. I don’t need him close right now. “Keep an eye out for the Shiv settlement. It’ll be high on the rise, just before the river.”
“Sylvi—”
“Two shots and I’ll stop the rig. But don’t screw around. If you fire that gun, I’m going to assume there’s danger.”
And like that, his gaze is flint. Good. That’s what I need right now. I don’t need convictions weakening his spine and revelations stirring up sentiments like silt. I need Kyn-the-Shiv hard as stone.
“No games,” he says, swinging the gun onto his back. I slam my door so he can scale it. Another crack splits the ice and Kyn moves quickly, past my window and onto the roof of the cab. I crank the ignition and listen as Kyn’s boots make their way down the trailer. When they’ve fallen from hearing, I wait another fifteen seconds—time enough for him to settle into the turret, and then I shift the Dragon into gear.
The road leans left and I lean with it, taking the Dragon around the bend and out onto the straightaway that leads to the river crossing. Another half mile and the Shiv caves should be in view.
“How’s your shoulder, Hy?”
“Good, Sessa.”
She’s lying. There’s no way it’s good after the fiasco with the rock saw, but that’s not the point. She’s willing to bury the discomfort and push forward and that’s what I need to know.
But when the river comes into view, Kyn’s gun remains silent. Hyla and I lean forward, pressing our faces to the ruined glass and trying to catch a glimpse of the camp high above. At first I think there’s nothing there, but then I see it. A string of rounded shadows, dark against the white mountain.
“Abandoned,” Mars says, suddenly pressed between Hyla and me. “Interesting.”
It’s possible we’re too far away to see, possible our perspective will eventually make fools of us, but I’m thinking the same thing. There’s no smoke rising into the night sky, no firelight flickering in the openings, no movement at all.
They’re gone. The settlement is empty.
“That’s good for us,” Hyla says. “Is it not?”
“Very good.” Mars settles back in his seat, stretches out.
I’m not nearly as comfortable with their apparent absence as he is, but I’m grateful to avoid a skirmish. Especially here where the road is so treacherous.
I slow the rig to a crawl as we approach the Serpentine. The toggle for the bucket is beneath the wheel. I feel around until the knob is under my thumb and I inch it up. The bucket lifts—not much, just enough to keep it from smacking the ice. The road dips as the highway gives way to the frozen river and we take the transition as slowly and carefully as possible.
I flip the latch on my shattered window and drop it down. The cracking ice is ominous, the sound bounding from river to rock. I keep the Dragon rolling slowly and lean out the window, surveying the frozen water below. The ice looks OK. Slick but solid.
I don’t see a single crack, but I know from experience that the ice is always thinnest at the drop-off.
I pull the Dragon tight to the cliff on our left, so close I can drag my finger through the loose snow clinging to the cliff face. I drop the slush onto my tongue, relishing the chill as it slides down my throat and hating what it means.
Two shots crack the air and my heart fires to match.
“Kyn.” I lean forward over the wheel, searching the cliffs for Shiv. But I see nothing. Just the ice. Just the shadows of clouds dancing on the mountaintops.
“You see anything?” I ask.
“Nothing,” Hyla says, tying back her hair.
“Mars?”
“Not from here.” He stands and slides open the roof hatch. One foot on the back of my chair, and then he’s on top of the rig.
“What do you see?” I call up.
“We have to get off the ice.”
“I can’t exactly floor it.”
Mars drops onto the hood and then to the frozen river. He strides out in front of the Dragon with his black-clad legs, his gait strong, his arms wide open, fingers