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Talwyn merely nodded once. “Although a warning would have been nice, so I could have at least put on boots,” she grumbled.

“You grabbed a dagger, but didn’t put on boots?” Scarlett asked doubtfully.

“You will come to find that when your Spirit Animal comes to you, it is generally wise not to waste time in accompanying them,” Talwyn replied haughtily.

The black wolf had trotted over and sat beside the panther. Jade and silver eyes watched the two cousins.

“What do they want?” Scarlett asked Talwyn.

“I do not know,” she answered, her tone slightly resentful.

“I’m assuming we’re in Shira Forest?” Scarlett tried again.

“No.”

“No?”

“I am unsure where we are,” Talwyn snapped, stomping past Scarlett. “I was hoping you would know.”

Scarlett turned to follow as she began making her way down the path. “Why would I know where we are?”

“I said I washopingyou would know. Apparently, that hope was misplaced. We are here to learn something,” Talwyn said. Maliq and Shirina had taken the lead now. “What has the Fire Prince told you of the Spirit Animals?”

Scarlett sheathed her dagger as they continued to follow the animals ahead of them. “That they are a bond between a person and one of the gods.That they are a guide of some sort for those to whom they are bonded.”

“Yes and no,” Talwyn said, shaking her head. “Yes, they are linked to us and aid us, but they have their own purposes for their true masters.”

“The gods,” Scarlett supplied dubiously. Their pace had slowed as they’d come to the edge of the trees. There was only rocky wasteland before them now, and they stopped as they stepped from the cover of the trees.

“Yes, the gods. There is something we are meant to learn here. Maliq taking me to the Oracle is how I learned of you,” Talwyn replied simply.

“And it is unexpected that Lady Celeste brought you here,” said a cool, calculating voice from behind them.

The queens spun around to find the beautiful man standing behind them. His shoulder-length silver hair was tied back, and the eagle perched on his shoulder. He was completely in black, as he had been every other time Scarlett had seen him, and his silver eyes went straight to her.

Talwyn had her dagger cocked to throw as she said with a snarl, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Relax, Fae Queen,” the man drawled. “I will not hurt you this time.”

This time?

Oh gods. Scarlett flashed back to a dream months ago. A dream where he had been there, and Talwyn had been chained to a wall, screaming in pain. She had screamed Sorin’s name.

Talwyn’s face was visibly paler as she watched the man, and Scarlett found herself stepping in front of her.

“It’s been a while,” she said casually to the man. “My dreams are not entertaining enough for you as of late?”

A smile twitched on the man’s lips, but never completely formed. “Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps I have other things to do besides make appearances in your dreams?”

“No, not really,” she answered.

“Who the fuck are you?” Talwyn demanded once more, stepping back to Scarlett’s side.The fear was gone, replaced by lethal rage.

The man merely glanced at her before returning his full attention to Scarlett. “Walk with me, Lady of Darkness.”

“Where are we?” Scarlett asked, coming to his side.

Maybe she hadn’t actually woken up. Maybe this was a dream after all, and she would soon wake, Sorin beside her.