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“Enid,” Dryston growled. “Don’t interfere with business that isn’t our own.”

Enid gave her brother such a darkly resolute look that Avenay didn’t think she’d ever try to argue with her if the situation presented itself.

“What did you do?” Enid asked her.

Avenay sighed and slung her backpack off, rifling through it to pull out the book. “I tookThe Tales of Lemiafrom the Great Library.”

Dryston gave a low whistle of disapproval. “Damn, Avenay. Was that necessary?”

Avenay shrugged. “I didn’t want to miss anything while I was away. And I only planned on being away for a couple of weeks, at most.”

“You have all those notes,” Dryston said, gesturing to her pack where the said notes were.

Avenay crossed her arms, hugging the tome to her chest. “I couldn’t take the chance.”

“We have plenty of time to make sure the trail matches up to the stories of Lemia,” Vasu offered.

“We do. But my sister doesn’t.”

The forest fell silent and Avenay felt her breath lodge in her throat.

“It’s just a story,” Cyrus said softly. “Come back with me. Spend these last months with Seraphina. Not here. Not away from her.”

A hand touched her elbow, and she glanced back to see Enid gazing at her with sympathy. She wanted to fall into those arms, to have Enid hold her until her shadows consumed all of Avenay’s dark fears.

“The Tales of Lemiabelong in Elf Glen,” Vasu said, his tone soft and melodious but firm.

Cyrus frowned, his attention shifting to him. “That is business between Lord Ilu and King Leeth. For now, it’s been stolen from the Great Library and must be returned.”

“That book is sacred to elves and humans.” Onora stepped next to Vasu, creating a wall in front of Cyrus and the other seraphs. “It was stolen from us first. Avenay is under our protection and that book will not be leaving Nemus again, not unless King Leeth approves it. Take up your quarry up with him. For now, we will continue our journey.”

Cyrus stepped forward. “Then come back to Elf Glen with us and let’s settle it.”

Avenay shook her head and took a step back. Enid kept in step with her, her wings still curled. “We have to continue, Cyrus. If there’s even the smallest chance in the darkest pit that I can save Seraphina,wouldn’t you want me to find it? Evolis was real. There’s too much proof for it.”

“Don’t do this, Avenay,” Cyrus said.

Avenay gave him one last, hard look. He still didn’t believe her, but she could feel it. Salvation rested at the tips of her fingers—if she could only reach out and grasp it.

Then she turned and ran.

She didn’t get far, though. Something wrapped around her leg, tugging. She tripped over her feet with a cry, her face hitting the hard ground. Gritty earth coated her teeth and she spit it out. A vine twined around her ankle, up and up, tightening. Before she could cry out, more vines came out of the forest, swarming, twisting, and twining around her companions. She clawed at the earth, trying to get away from the grip of the foliage, but it pulled harder, and before she knew it, she was being yanked into the forest, away from the others.

Chapter 17: Enid

The trees groaned in a sickening symphony, each creak and bend like a scream that grated along Enid’s skin. Vines swarmed in a solid wall of green, coming straight for her head. She slashed, and a moan sounded as the vines fell dead to the ground.

Even more came, a never-ending barrage of vines. One caught around her ankle, tugging. She stumbled a step and hacked it away. A blast of heat hit to her right, and she dodged, narrowly missing it. A fireball dissipated, leaving singing black leaves and whistling vines towrithe on the ground. She’d bet good money that it came from the firebird behind her—the seraph with the red and orange wings.

Six vines attacked her at once and she threw up shadows around her. They halted, slithering in the air, poking and probing, trying to sense her. They were using light to sense them. She shifted her shadows again, bending the light. The vines followed it, their bodies swaying and tilting toward the path she created with the shadows.

“Kaemon!” she shouted above the noise.

“A little busy, Enid!”

“Use a shadow shroud to shift the light. They’re following light patterns!”

He made a noise of surprise, but soon she noticed more vines tilting and turning away. Good, this could work. Now she just needed to strain and push her shroud out to the others. Where was Avenay? She’d seen her get taken down and pulled into the forest.