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He would be angry.

He would ask questions.

He would figure out Fidel had help.

He would hunt me.

He would kill me.

I whispered a prayer to the Great Mother, and then I sprinted for dear life toward the cave entrance.

If I died, my kind would be doomed. That was how tenuous our existence was.

I paused just inside the cave’s mouth, where the ground fell away and plunged deep into the darkness below. Salvation lay somewhere down there.

I threw a glance over my shoulder. My ears twitched.

Utter silence.

I faced forward again, took a deep breath, and jumped.

The trip down wasn’t particularly smooth or pleasant this time. I was too fraught with panic for much finesse, and I hadn’t thought to save much power for myself to make up for it with magic. Foresight was a skill better suited to humans than Infernari. And still, despite my hurried movements, the descent felt like it took ages.

The cave narrowed abruptly, and my hands slapped the wet, gummy walls as I lowered myself. The cave opened once more, and I knew I was getting close to the bottom. So close.

Even in the deep darkness, I saw the cave floor far beneath me. A mass of stalagmites covered it, several thicker at their base than the tree I’d hid behind.

Abruptly, I released my hold of the wall, dropping down. I landed in a crouch between two large spires, my excitement mounting.

I’d be home in less than a minute.

I stood, casting a glance far above me. No sign of Asher.

Jame Asher.

No wonder I had been so intimidated by him even before I learned his identity. On some level I knew, Iknew, how formidable the man I stared at was. And then, to see him in action... He managed to turn the portal master into nothing more than raw meat. Twice.

I had to tell the others that Asher was alive. That he was just as powerful and ruthless as the stories made him out to be. No human should have been able to capture, let alone kill, a portal master.

But he had.

I headed towards the lapping water, towards the portal.

That’s when I felt it—or rather, when I didn’t feel what I should’ve.

The alluring pull of the gateway was absent; the cave lacked its usual breath of magic.

My heart pounded faster, forming a melody of sorts with the dripping water. I moved through the cavern, the chill of the place seeping into my bones. So achingly cold down here.

My gaze roved over my surroundings. If my magic couldn’t find the portal, my eyes would.

There.

Next to the shallow pool, I recognized the familiar cluster of columns from some of my earlier trips. I had thought at the time that they looked like the most ancient, abandoned castles of my homeland, their walls rounded and smoothed by thousands of years of wind and rain.

Only now, now these pillars lay scattered in fragmented heaps.

I strode over to them, not daring to breathe, not daring tobelieve.