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“Absolutely not.”

She blinked, surprised by the vehemence in his voice. “Why?”

“Not an option,” he said, his voice cold.

She ran a hand over her face. That was off the table, then.

Sheathing her sword, she raised an arm outward and unfurled her fingers. Then shadows exploded from her. It blasted through the zaol’s abdomen, which dissipated in an instant. The legs wobbled before turning into a muddy pile of darkness on the ground.

“That should give us a head start,” she said before turning in the direction the others had fled—back toward the desert. “Let’s go.”

She wove between the tree trunks with the fae prince at her side. He moved far lighter on his feet than he should for someone his size, hardly making any noises at all.

She held on to the shadows, letting them fill her with power. It was so much power that, for a moment, it felt like she held the amplifier. Her entire body vibrated with sheer energy. Beside her, Hadeon’s magic seemed far less significant than it once had.

But she knew the moment she let go of her magic, she’d crumble. It was the only thing keeping the strange exhaustion at bay.

As they neared the edge of the oasis, there was a rumbling in the distance behind them.

It had taken the zaol mere minutes to regenerate.

If they had to stop every few minutes in the open desert to kill the zaol, they weren’t going to last long. Even if they had a chance of reaching the next oasis, they’d be too fatigued and dehydrated if they had to battle a greater demon the whole way.

We’re going to die.

Somehow, that thought broke through to her, and fear touched the edge of her senses. But it wasn’t fear for herself. It was for Jessamine and Breckett, and perhaps even Hadeon. She felt responsible for their safety. They were relying on her to find the shadow fae, and she needed to ensure they made it.

Grabbing the map from her jacket, she opened it.

There was a line that went across the Abyss from east to west, and there were only a few oases in this endless desert. To the north, there was a series of jagged mountains.

She studied that line of mountains.

Based on the distance they’d traveled before to the first oasis, the mountains had to be about ten miles north of here. It was the next closest thing to them. While it didn’t follow the path toward the west, there was a chance they could find cover there or maybe lose the zaol.

A sudden thought occurred to her as the now familiar shadowy presence settled atop her shoulders.

What if the line across the Abyss on the map didn’t lead to the shadow fae? What if the spot that was marked was the exit gateway or another place? If that was the case, the shadow fae could be anywhere.

Suddenly, a trace of shadows appeared at the top of the parchment. It was so faint she nearly missed it. It hovered in a single location.

The mountains to the north.

Then the shadows disappeared, though the presence lingered.

Should she trust whatever this was? Did she have another choice? It had directed her toward the oasis. Perhaps it could lead her to the shadow fae, too.

She rolled up the map and stashed it in her jacket pocket as she ran.

Just ahead, Jessamine and Breckett lingered at the edge of what remained of the trees.

When she and Hadeon caught up, the four of them hurried into the desert, kicking up sand as they ran.

She came to a decision.

“The shadow fae found a way to avoid the zaol and survive,” she said. “So, we kill it as often as we can and slow it down until we find the shadow fae—or a way to lose it.”

Or until we’re too exhausted to fight any longer.