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We kept our senses sharp as we tracked along the path, calling out Raven’s name every few minutes. She knew not to leave the path, didn’t she? But in the dense fog, I started to lose her trail. Soon, there was no sign of her anywhere. No footprints in the snow. No trampled plants. No overturned rocks. Not a single trace of where she went. It was like the forest had erased her existence.

Eventually, Kah and I had no choice but to turn around, heading back south in case we missed any clues before. An hour must have passed before we reached our campsite again.

“She’s gone,” I muttered, raking both hands through my hair. I thought I’d felt her presence, but the feeling had vanished. “Do you think—” Skies, I didn’t know what to think. Did this cursed forest swallow her? Did Skyler take her? Did she somehow fly away?

“We just have to keep looking,” Kah said.

I released a frustrated sigh, ready to rip out every tree by its roots to get to her. “We need to split up.”

Kah stopped to gawk at me. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not. We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“Did you not hear what that Brambleman said? About staying on the path and keeping in sight of each other?”

“That doesn’t matter now!” I shouted. “We have to find her, Kah. You head to the north again, and I’ll search along the part of the path we traveled yesterday.”

Kah’s throat rumbled. “For the record, this is worse than your idea to ride a horse. Much, much worse.”

I ignored him. “Meet me back at the camp in an hour, k’da?”

With a defeated shake of his head, he vanished into the fog.

The wind picked up as I trekked onward, searching for signs that Raven had come this way. The fog was thinning out in this direction, making it easier to see through the trees.

Something caught my eye in the distance. When I got closer, I saw what looked like a figure lying face down in a clearing.

“Raven!” Recognizing the black cloak, I leapt off the path and sprinted through the trees until I reached the clearing. I skidded to a stop on my knees beside her. She wasn’t moving. Holding my breath, I rolled her over.

Pale blonde hair spilled out of her hood.

I sucked in a breath.

“Lila?”

It’d been so long since I’d seen her that it took a moment to recognize her.

Her eyes were closed, her body limp, yet her chest was rising and falling … just barely. “She’s alive,” I breathed, relief washing over me. I brushed her hair away from her face. Even unconscious, she was angelic. Her soft, pink lips were shaped into a slight pout against her pale ivory skin. She was like a graceful snowdrop flower blooming in the harshness of winter.

I touched her cheek with my palm, and she stirred. Slowly, her eyes blinked open.

“Jeddak?” She looked up at me, confusion clouding her silvery-blue eyes. “Is that really you?”

“It’s me,” I said, stroking her hair as I held her head in my lap. “I’m here.” I never imagined our reunion like this. I thought when I saw her again, that I’d be—what? Happier? No, I mean, Iwashappy to see her … and relieved she was alive and safe. Seeing her here, I’d realized how much I’d missed her over the past months.

Then why did I feel a strange tension inside my chest, like rope being stretched to the point of breaking?

“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to regain her bearings.

“Kah and I have been trying to get back to Askeland. Back toyou,” I said. “What areyoudoing here? Why are you in this place? How did you get away?”

She sat up, rubbing her head like she was trying to remember. “Wait, where are we?” she asked, glancing around.

“We’re in the Forgotten Forest. Near the southern border of Askeland.”

Her eyes went wide as if her memories had finally caught up with her. “We have to get away from Askeland. Far away!”

“Why? What happened?”