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I relented with a sigh and told her all about last night. How Nik and I had hooked up, but it hadn’t gone any farther than that. How it had beenamazing, and I had never felt like this about anyone before.

I could hear the shower turn off and Tess met my eyes before bursting into a fit of giggles. I shoved her off the bed to quiet her, but she kept laughing, curled up on the floor.

“I knew it. It’s always the ‘innocent’ ones thatlovethe bad boys,” she choked out between laughs.

“Well, now that you know all aboutmynight, what about you?” I asked.

As Tess got up to join me back on the bed, Nik sauntered out of the washroom, squeezing his wet hair in a towel. He wore the same black jeans as yesterday, but with a white T-shirt that hugged his muscled frame. It showed off the tattoos at his neck and those peeking out below the shirt at his bicep.

“Care to let me in on the joke?” he asked, moving to the bed to put his boots on.

“It wasn’t that funny,” I told him as Tess shot me a glare. I would have to wait to hear about her night until we were alone again.

“What do you say we hit up one of Puck and my favorite breakfast spots before we start heading back to the portal?” he asked.

“Sounds good to me. Will Saanvi be escorting us back through The Shadow?” I asked.

“I think so,” he nodded. “I’m going to send her a message once we get to breakfast.”

“Good, because I amstarving.” Tess tossed her hair over her shoulder and moved towards the door while Nik and I followed. “Puck is already downstairs waiting for us. We will come back for our bags?” she asked.

“Yes. I definitely need at least one more pint of Dragon’s Ale before we hit the road,” Nik replied with a laugh.

I took one last glance around the room before shutting the door behind us and heading downstairs to meet Puck.

The breakfast place was a few blocks away from Eight Bells and the cool morning air sent a shiver through me despite the sweater I had chosen this morning being rather heavy. The rest of Prins was already awake, the busy streets filled with people and covered in a thick layer of fog from last night’s storm.

The cobblestone streets were still damp, but from what we could see of the sky overhead, it appeared that it would be a clear day today. Tess grabbed my arm, and we walked together, both of us grinning. This weekend trip to Istmere had been exactly what we needed. A little time away to unwind, and I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time we snuck off to have a weekend to ourselves. I wish we had more time. There was so much of Istmere I wanted to explore and so much about my magic and my heritage that remained a mystery.

I could see the spot we were headed to about a block down, The Giddy Griddle. It had a red and white striped awning with tables set out on the street. The inviting smell of hot cakes wafting down to us made my mouth water.

A stranger walking too close bumped my shoulder hard enough to make me lose my balance; Tess’ arm looped through mine was the only thing keeping me upright.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Tess called after him, but the stranger didn’t spare us a second glance. He just kept walking.

“Nice. I don’t think yelling at strangers falls under ‘lying low’ and ‘not drawing attention to ourselves,’” I told Tess as I gave her arm a playful squeeze.

“I couldn’t help it. He was rude.” She shrugged.

I could see Nik’s spine straighten out of the corner of my eye as another set of strangers approached us from the direction of the restaurant. Their cloaks billowed behind them, and their hoods were pulled up so we couldn’t see their faces. There were three of them.

“We need to get out of here.Now.” Nik grabbed my hand, and all but tore me out of Tess’ grip, pulling me back the way we had come.

“What are you talking about? What is going on?” Tess asked, turning to Puck, who had grabbed her as well and was dragging her down the street behind him. Neither Nik nor Puck answered. They kept walking faster and faster, making it difficult for me to keep up with my much shorter legs.

“The glamour vials?” Puck asked, shooting Nik a sideways glance.

“It’s too late, we’ve already been spotted,” Nik replied.

“Seriously, what is going on?” I asked as Nik turned to me, his eyes focused on something behind me. He paused briefly, his eyes searching.

“Diana, listen to me. I need you to run.” He grabbed both of my hands and pulled me towards him. “I need you to run as fast as you can. It doesn’t matter where you go, I will find you. Justrun.”

Nik pulled an obsidian dagger from his belt, his jaw set. A question bubbled to my lips, but his expression stopped the words before they could come out. I didn’t question him. I did as he asked. Iran. Tess was on my heels as we raced through the streets, not knowing where we were going. We stopped at a busy intersection where we needed to wait to cross, and I turned to Tess as I tried to catch my breath.

“I’m with you,” she told me, breathless. “Let’s go.”

We tore across the intersection, our sneakers slapping hard against the stone, twisting and turning around carriages and carts. The shouts of the store merchants telling us to slow down buzzed in our ears as we ran past. I never was terribly athletic, and now I cursed myself for it as I heard the cloaked strangers chasing us, their footsteps growing closer and closer. How many of them had Nik and Puck been able to take down? How many of them were there, and what did they want with us?