Page 31 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom (Faeted Seasons #2)

“Portal magic doesn’t work like that. It’s a doorway, ding dong.

And you’re stuck in a realm that doesn’t exactly have a map of its terrain.

It’s not like I can give them coordinates.

A —a witch made the portal. They said it must be in the Fold.

Something about the ley lines converging there.

These realms don’t exist on the same timeline, and as you discovered, they aren’t mirrors of each other.

What’s here isn’t there. The Fold exists on both sides.

All things considered, a waterfall sounds pleasant.

Be glad the Fold doesn’t exist in the thorn fields of Eversus. ”

There was so much to process. I had no idea why Damon would feel the need to guard himself over being in the library, and I also had no idea why it mattered to Vareck.

Books were for everyone. But I had to agree with Damon.

This wasn’t what we needed to be talking about, and Corvo had given us a direction.

There was comfort in knowing this location didn’t move around on us.

I placed my hand on Vareck’s arm, feeling the tense muscle.

“He’s right. We need to get to the portal. ”

“Listen to your woman, Vareck,” Corvo advised. “She knows what she’s doing.”

Well that was a lie. I knew jack all about surviving here. I had no idea what I was doing. I had proven that enough already. I just wanted to go home.

Sadie barked a laugh. “She knows about as much as the rest of us. No offense, sister.”

I snorted in return. “None taken.” I tapped my temple twice and then pointed to her. “Same thought.”

Corvo tilted his head, his golden eyes standing out starkly against his black fur. “Oh, she knows far more than she realizes. You’ll see.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Vareck asked.

“Well, time for me to go. Head north. Drayden and Kaia will be waiting. Probably. Assuming he doesn’t get eaten. Honestly, he is such a grumpy fucker, you’d better hurry up or else he just might leave you all here.”

Then Corvo winked out of existence, leaving us all with his cryptic comment and half-assed goodbye. Three pairs of eyes looked at me. “What? I don’t know what he’s talking about either.”

Vareck growled softly, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to his side. “I don’t want you getting too far from me once we head out.”

His body felt warm against mine and I nudged him with shoulder playfully. “C’mon, Vareck. It’s Corvo. He likes to be a pain. Do you think he really meant anything by that?”

“I don’t know. This realm already wants you. I can feel it.”

“But it’s not like Corvo’s being serious. He doesn’t want me to get hurt. He’s just fucking with you because he knows he can.”

I said the words, but I wasn’t sure I even believed them.

Something about this place continued to make me increasingly uncomfortable.

The land was supposedly sentient. It was watching us.

Following our every move. The Nameless were out there waiting for us.

Hopefully the murder bears weren’t tracking us.

Gods knew what else lurked in the shadows.

We were all on edge to an extent, but I felt this current of uncertainty just beneath my skin.

Something far more than danger. It was a fear I couldn’t yet name, and it followed me as we trekked our way north.

“I half expected you to rub two sticks together,” Sadie said, bickering once again with Damon while we all sat around a small campfire in the middle of nowhere.

“You knew I could start a fire. I had one before you dropped into the cave. Are you always this bitchy?” he shot back while he prodded the kindling, stoking the flames.

“I’m saving it all for you, dumpling.”

“You spend most of your time alone, don’t you?

No man in his right mind would stick around long.

” I winced as soon as he said it. Our sisterly conversation about the past was still a freshly picked wound and he unknowingly just rubbed salt in it.

Sadie could talk a big game, but she’d been hurt something awful, and her inability to be in a relationship was proof of it.

Her jaw set and she narrowed her eyes. “I hope you step on a nail and get tetanus.”

“You see any fucking nails around here?” Damon dropped his stick and threw his hands up.

“Only if we’re lucky!”

“What is it you want? What have I ever done to you?”

“I don’t know. I can hear when you chew. You walk like you’ve never tracked a thing in your life. You breathe too loud. You snore.”

“Do you think you don’t snore? Besides, what do you care? It’s not like I’m inviting you to sleep next to me after we leave this place.”

“Get fucked, pretty boy.”

“You offering to climb on top, warrior princess?”

Vareck groaned beside me, but I watched in curiosity as the two of them argued with each other.

My sister was no doubt feisty and hotheaded, but this was something different.

It was almost as if this place was changing her.

Bringing out a heightened version of her qualities . .. especially the more difficult ones.

Corvo had so kindly popped in while we were trudging along, quite literally dumping a full backpack of food for us, before he quickly disappeared, telling us it was dinner time in Faerie and he didn’t want to miss it.

No pleasantries, no conversation, nothing.

Just showed up with the backpack, turned around to show us his asshole, then popped right out of Evorsus all over again.

I couldn’t even be annoyed with him. I didn’t want to stay here either.

I rummaged through the bag and picked out four food pouches to warm up. They were your standard survival kits. Bland, shitty nutrient-packed food that was made just to keep you alive. You’d certainly never eat it for the taste.

“Do you know how to stop this?” Vareck whispered, flicking his eyes to Sadie and Damon. “We’re all going to end up mad if this goes on for much longer.”

“I had a thought about that. You said this place is sentient.” He looked at me curiously, nodding in acknowledgment.

“Do you think the realm is messing with their heads? I don’t know Damon, but Sadie isn’t usually this bad.

I mean, she’s a lot to handle, but this version of her is bigger.

Meaner. More explosive. Could the realm be blowing up their emotions?

Maybe trying to break them mentally, or even break them apart somehow? ”

“Breaking them mentally makes sense. I don’t see the purpose of breaking them apart. They barely wanted to be together to begin with,” he mused, scrubbing his fingers through his beard as he considered the possibilities. “Unless it’s as simple as strength in numbers…”

I nodded along, wondering if that was what was happening.

The land either wanted us to lose our minds, or to separate so we couldn’t fend off whatever Nameless or murderous teddy bears or cannibal mutant rabbits it wanted to throw at us.

I hadn’t seen those, but my mind had wandered enough that it was starting to create things that weren’t there. “We need them to chill out.”

“If you have a plan to shut them up, I am all ears,” he said.

After handing Vareck his pouch, I stood up and tossed one to Damon. He caught it quickly, pausing long enough for there to be a moment of beautiful silence between them.

“Hey, Sadie.” I tossed her a pouch and when she caught it, I smiled. “Truth or dare.”

She grinned, and the murderous look in her eye disappeared. My sister looked like herself again. “We don’t have liquor,” she pointed out.

I shrugged. “Getting drunk here wouldn’t be my first choice anyway.”

“Fair enough.”

Vareck raised a hand. “I’m sorry, what’s ‘truth or dare’?”

“A drinking game we play with our brothers.” I launched into the whole explanation of how the game was played between us.

You pick truth, you tell the truth and take a shot.

You pick dare, you complete the dare and take the shot.

Refusal or incompletion equals forfeiture, and you lose the game. The last man or woman standing wins.

“Wait, you have to drink even when you complete your turn? It’s not a situation where you take a shot because you refused?” Damon asked, his brows scrunching, looking around as though he missed part of the rules. “I don’t understand the point.”

I scoffed, smacking my hand over my heart in a mocking gesture of shock. “Bragging rights, of course.” I looked to Vareck for encouragement, but even he looked slightly dubious. “Look, we don’t have a drink, but we can still have fun.”

“Is it fun?” Damon whispered to Vareck.

“Sadie is the reigning champion,” I added. Damon’s back straightened and his jaw muscle tightened. “If that matters ...”

“Too scared, princeling?”

“I’m in,” he said. Damon turned to Vareck and nodded like they were teaming up somehow. Vareck looked at him, craning his neck back and turning to me for an explanation. I just shrugged.

“All right, sister. Truth or dare.”