Grey Senses

Once again, everyone was standing back, looking to my brother as a savior, no one standing at his side.

Has he been alone all this time? I wondered, trying and failing to imagine what might have been on the other side of that portal.

It wasn’t fair that all these people were just going to push their burdens off on Arthur. It didn’t matter how strong he was, he shouldn’t have to do everything by himself. He needed to know that there were still people by his side.

Without deciding to, I was moving. Helen’s eyes widened as I plucked the bow right out of her hand, then shot toward the still-growing walls. My mother’s voice cut over the general din, but I didn’t look back as I leapt up the stone wall of the cavern, caught my toes into a shallow indentation, and then pushed upward, reaching for the top of the curving ice.

My chest hit hard, and I nearly slipped and tumbled backwards as I struggled to hold onto the moving edge of the ice barrier. Swinging inward, I kicked off the ice and pulled my body up over the lip, so suddenly I was on the outside of the carve and sliding downwards. A moment later, I landed in a roll, curling myself protectively around the bow and then letting momentum carry me back up to the feet, already running.

I could still hear my mother’s yells for a few seconds, then the ice barrier must have closed over everyone and sealed them in, because the sound cut out.

Staying close to the cavern wall, I jumped down the rocky slope that led to where the now-dry stream used to run down into a series of cracks in the wall and floor that were too small for a person to get through. I leapt the algae-slick stones at the bottom of the stream and scrambled up onto a higher shelf of rock on the other side, then from there to another, before finally hiding myself in a fold in the cavern wall that perfectly hid me from the Alacryans.

Arthur’s eyes flicked to me. I was over a hundred feet away, but I could see into his bright gold eyes as if he was standing right next to me. He made a face like he was concentrating on something, the same face he always made when he would talk to Sylvie in his head, and the shadow-and-fire wolf leapt out of him and ran in my direction.

I felt a moment of uncertainty, and Boo appeared next to me with a pop.

The shadow wolf jumped up to me with a single leap. “Stay back, stay quiet,” he said gruffly before turning and settling protectively in front of me.

Boo eyed the wolf—Regis, I reminded myself—and moved next to him, matching his defensive posture competitively.

So much for staying hidden, I thought. But at least Arthur knew I was out here with him. He knew he wasn’t alone.