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A shiver ran down my spine. Death, yes, but whatever was happening to the poor souls who had ended up in her hands …Wolves against wolves.

An idea sparked.

‘Helenka?’ How I managed to get out her name calmly and confidently was anyone’s guess; the words were loose shreds of ideas before they found their way to my lips. ‘Would you mind terribly if I borrowed a couple of your prisoners for a few hours?’

She turned around without slowing down, nimbly avoiding branches and stringy roots even as she dashed backwards. ‘And what exactly would you need them for, Emelin Vedra?’

‘A few things I need to figure out,’ I said, pausing for a heartbeat or two to see whether that would be enough. When she merely continued looking at me, I sighed and added, ‘About the bindings.’

Helenka stiffened mid-step.

‘I’m trying to figure out how to break them.’ In a flash of inspiration, I nodded at Alyra, who squeaked at that small acknowledgement. ‘It’s the reason Zera gave me this magic. But I’d prefer not to conduct any risky experiments on the magic of our allies, and I don’t havethatmany test subjects around to—’

‘Yes,’ she interrupted me. Her voice had gone rough. ‘I understand.’

It seemed I was still underestimating how much a mere mention of the bindings could accomplish. It was the future of her people on the line, too, of course – their fertility, and with that the fate of their entire race. And yet I was surprised when she turned back around with no further questions and said, ‘I’ll have a few of them sent to you. Are there any requirements they should meet?’

I glanced at Creon, who shrugged, looking amused.Not overly insane, preferably.

‘It would be nice if they have something of a mind left,’ I said cautiously, ignoring the next nervous flip of my stomach.

Helenka chuckled but gestured to our right without wasting another word on the matter. ‘This way, please.’

We soon left the screaming behind. I couldn’t say I was sorry to get away from it. The piercing whispers were a pleasant backdrop in comparison.

It took some ten more minutes of walking before familiar voices finally emerged from the tightly tangled forest around us.

‘…toldyou to stay in bed!’ That was Lyn, her high child’s voice easiest to distinguish. ‘And don’t tell me Ylfreda allowed you to leave! You’ll be darning socks for the next decade if she hears …’

‘Not sure I’d leave him alone with my socks, honestly,’ Tared said dryly.

A grin broke out on my face all by itself. Edored was in the middle of making his furious retort – something about excellent sock darning skills, not that he’d ever touch anything that had come so close to Tared’s smelly feet – when we stepped through the last curtain of flowering branches and into the large clearing where the others had gathered. There were more alves than I had expected, likely part of the small force Thorir had brought to the island. Edored, still covered in burn salves and bandages, ranted at Lyn, whose clothes showed a generous number of burn marks and soot stains.

‘Your company,’ Helenka said, stiffly and redundantly.

‘Em!’ Lyn cried out at the same moment, ignoring Edored entirely as she snapped around and sprinted towards me. Conversations around the clearing stilled abruptly as every head turned in unison. ‘Inika have mercy, you’resoaked– don’t tell me you jumped off that gods-damned ship? And …’ She faltered as her amber eyes slid to Alyra on my shoulder. ‘Oh, good gods.’

‘You’re faster than I was,’ I said wryly, suppressing the urge to shrink away from the eyes staring in my direction. These were members of the Alliance, some of them alves I considered friends, and yet the brand new edge of unease in their gazes was achingly similar to the looks I’d gotten during my first days in the Underground. ‘This is Alyra. Alyra, the family. Would you all mind …’ I gestured weakly at my drenched clothes. ‘I could use a moment to recover before giving you the full report.’

‘Right,’ Thorir said from behind a group of comrades. I hadn't spotted him until that moment, but his grin at me wasalmostunchanged, and I could have hugged him for it. ‘Time to get back to work, everyone. And nice work, Nosebreaker.’

Not a word of praise to Creon, of course. He may as well not have been standing there beside me while the group around Thorir mumbled some words of agreement and faded off. The only alf who clearly acknowledged his presence was Tared, and with the dagger-looks they exchanged across the clearing, I’d have preferred for Tared to follow the example of the others.

‘I’m off as well,’ Edored hastily informed us, vanishing before Lyn could get in another word about injuries and Ylfreda’s wrath.

Helenka cleared her throat beside me, an obvious warning that she’d wasted enough time watching alves bickering. ‘I trust you’ll find all you need here, Emelin Vedra. I’ll have your test subjects sent to you as soon as possible.’

She turned on her heel and strode off. Around her, vines and branches helpfully nudged themselves out of her way so as not to get tangled up in her curved horns.

‘Test subjects?’ Tared repeated, his eyebrows shooting up as he finally tore his gaze away from Creon to examine me and the bird on my shoulder. ‘Even more ambitious plans, Em?’

Lyn sent Creon and me a look of mild despair, then whirled back to Tared. ‘Let’s get them some dry clothing first. Talking war strategy in wet rags is asking for trouble.’

Just beyond the clearing, a dozen small structures had been shaped out of branches and leaves – not exactly huts, but rather man-high domes, appearing to have grown straight from the earth rather than been built. The bag I’d left on the beach before the battle was standing beside one of the low doors; Creon’s bag had been unceremoniously dumped on the path to the next.

He picked it up from the ground with no more than a shrug, sending me a quick smile as he disappeared through the delicate beaded curtain. Every fibre of me ached to follow him into that bloody hut, hold him for half an hour, then selflessly assist him with undressing … but Tared’s gaze itched between my shoulder blades, and nymphs were doubtlessly watching me from their hidden spots between the greenery.

I told Alyra to go take a look at the island and snuck into my dome on my own.