as uncommon as the world thought. Most of them were just too weak for the magic they held. They fell prey to the madness or the despair, and if those didn’t get them, the ascension usually did.
This one, though . . . she had a feeling he might make it. Maybe.
He was one of the youngest, but he’d managed the best. He didn’t complain. He didn’t boast of his magic. He didn’t steal food from the other kids, though she knew if he tried, they’d let him. The others were scared of him. All but Trissa.
Quinn had suspicions about her as well.
But unlike him, she didn’t think the girl had magic.
She was fairly sure she repelled it.
To be a null and live in N’skara . . . Quinn shook her head. It made sense that the two of them had held out this long and done better than the others. They were used to things being a little harder.
“How much longer?” one of the other boys asked. His body shook and the blue tint had spread from his fingers to his palms. He was having trouble opening and closing his hands. Most of them were. It was making the whole hunting aspect more difficult when only two of the six could even attempt to pull their weight.
“I’m not sure,” Quinn murmured. They’d been going for a week. The worst of the weather was past, but that didn’t mean they were out of trouble. High in the mountains it was still cold, but without the snow to use as water when they ran out.
Quinn suspected she’d lose the two girls if they didn’t find the Ciseans soon.
She also knew better than anyone, they wouldn’t find them until they wanted to be found. She just hoped that she looked like she used to so that they would recognize her. She still wasn’t sure how long she’d been in the dark realm, but if she could get the kids to the Ciseans, she might be able to dreamwalk long enough to get an answer out of Draeven.
As it was the bastard barely slept, and the few times she’d tried to contact him, she hadn’t been able to. Neiss suspected he was avoiding her intentionally and Quinn had to agree, but as long as Lord Sunshine did his job that was what mattered.
That and keeping her return to the world of the living from Lazarus.
Behind her, there was a thump followed by a muffled cry. Quinn didn’t need to look to know what had happened. Still, she turned.
“Get up,” she said softly.
The little girl looked up. Her skin was sunken in and her eyes bloodshot, yet dull. Any shine her silver hair might have had faded in the week they’d been traveling.
“I . . .” The child tried to answer, but the water gathering at her lids said more than the words. Quinn grit her teeth. She might be cold-hearted and cruel, but this was not a suffering she could revel in.
Not when she understood all too well.
“Get up,” Quinn said again. “You have to.”
None of the other children said anything, but their gazes were somber. They’d all lived in N’skara. They knew the signs of frostbite, exhaustion, and starvation. It was a deadly combination, and when water was also limited, it was all but certain. The only question was how long they all truly had.
“I-I’m . . . sorry,” the girl breathed. Her full lips were chapped. Quinn pressed her own together as she watched the girl tremble on her knees in the woods.
Without saying anything, she walked back and picked her up, hooking one arm around her back and one underneath her knees. The shaking didn’t stop, but they had to keep going.
All of them except Quinn would fall to the wilderness eventually if they didn’t find the Cisean tribes.
Quinn carried the girl up the mountain all day. Leviticus’ eye rose and descended, but she didn’t stop and neither did the children she led. They’d reached a point where it was easier to keep going because whenever they did stop, it was harder to start again. Quinn adjusted her pace and kept at it.
The trees thinned the further they went. So did the air.
The chittering of animals started somewhere around late afternoon, signaling to her just how far they’d truly gone.
But it was only when she heard the softest of roars that Quinn paused and took notice.
Water.
Running water.
She took a sharp turn right, deeper into the woods, where the sounds of squirrels