struggled to keep up with Jay’s pace, refusing to be the weak member of their party. Exequías and Rikai lumbered behind her, and she kept her eyes firmly on the wide-eyed witch. Eventually, it was Lynx who set teeth into Jay’s calf with a snarl.
Jay jerked his head up as if from a trance, and looked around at his exhausted companions. “Sorry,” he said. “I keep feeling …” He trailed off, and shivered. “I think it’s the same magic that tried to hide the road from me.”
“I’m no expert at magic,” Exequías said, “but doesn’t it take power to maintain something like this? What kind of spell is still this strong two hundred years later?”
“The kind of spells Midnight would buy,” Rikai answered, shouldering past them at a slower but no less inexorable pace. The rest of them fell in line behind her, Jay’s steps tense, as if he were still fighting the instinct to run. “They were first crafted through sacrifice. When Midnight was attacked, the spells were fed with slaughter, and enough magic to leave stone smoldering for centuries.”
“You mean the spells got stronger after the attack?” Brina asked. She had no magical expertise personally, but she knew some of the witches who had supported Midnight. Black was not a dark enough word to describe some of their rituals.
“More than that,” Rikai answered. “I think it’s no coincidence that the civilizations who lent their power to this attack have all fallen into decline since. Before that attack, even Midnight feared the Shantel, the Azteka, and the shm’Ahnmik. They were worth fearing. Now they’re so insignificant that many consider them myths. The wreckage their actions left behind has been like an open wound that any parasite could use. I doubt Midnight’s defense spells were the only opportunistic leeches who noticed.” With a glance back and an unsettling smile, she added, “I know that I certainly intend to return, once other matters are—”
She broke off, going still. Brina moved up beside her and realized what had made the witch stop: the road was gone.
Looking back revealed more of the same. Without warning, they were in the middle of pristine wilderness.
“How did we lose the path?” Jay asked, looking around.
“We must have crossed into Shantel territory,” Brina replied. “There are no paths here.” She had never traveled through Shantel land, but she had heard stories from others who had. Once within the forest’s magical snare, no compass or map could save you.
“But we were just on a path,” Jay protested.
“And now we’re not,” Rikai snapped. “The Shantel were masters of illusion. Jay, what do you sense?”
Jay closed his eyes. “Power,” he answered. “It has a feline flavor. I can’t sense where it’s coming from.”
“Let me see if I can pierce a hole in this veil,” Rikai said, and she folded her legs to sit cross-legged on the ground. From her pack, she pulled what looked like a long silver chain. As she made a circle in the snow around her, the metal glowed so white-hot that Brina had to look away from its glare.
Brina paced a little, and opened a water bottle to take a few careful sips. Her throat was sore from panting as she’d struggled to keep up with Jay’s near-run, and her legs felt stiff and tingly. If she sat down, she doubted she would be able to get back up quickly.
Unexpectedly, she met Jay’s gaze. Something in those hazel eyes made her want to reach out to him, but before she could give into the impulse, Rikai stood up and announced confidently, “This way.”
They continued, but less than an hour later, Lynx let out a frustrated yowl, and Jay said, “We’ve turned around.”
“No, we haven’t,” Rikai replied.
“If we’re heading east, the sun shouldn’t be in front of us this time of day,” Jay insisted. He paused to turn on the watchlike compass on his wrist, and then turned it off again with a sound of disgust.
Brina explained, “You can’t trust the sun in the Shantel forest, any more than you can trust your gadgets.”
“I trust my power,” Rikai replied firmly.
Lynx growled, but what choice did they have? They followed Rikai. With sore legs and an increasingly aching head, Brina forced one foot in front of another, until, as the woods began to darken, Jay announced, “We’ve been here before.”
“We haven’t—”
“We have,” the witch interrupted sharply. “Lynx can recognize his own scent markers. We’ve been here.”
“You trust cat pee over magic?” Rikai asked incredulously.
“I do,” Exequías broke in.