Snakeroot

  “How did she get there?” A man whose face featured a long, pointed nose and whose salt-and-pepper hair was clipped severely close to his scalp held Anika with an accusing glare.

  “I’ve already told you, Holt.” Anika kept her tone even, but her shoulders were tight with anger. “Ariadne is a Weaver. We don’t know why she went to Rowan Estate, but how is obvious.”

  Sabine glanced at Ethan, who gave a brief nod to confirm her suspicions. She hadn’t encountered Holt before, but she’d heard plenty about him—and what she’d heard was usually laced with unflattering adjectives. Having taken the place of the Pyralis Guide, another casualty of the war, Holt had quickly earned a reputation for his ambition and his caustic attitude toward Anika’s leadership.

  “It’s not obvious when Weavers are meant to be regulated,” Holt objected. “I don’t care what she did in the war. That’s the past and it’s time we all moved on. She shouldn’t be getting special treatment.”

  “No one is getting special treatment,” Anika said. “And our primary concern at this moment is Ariadne’s welfare.”

  “Her welfare wouldn’t be an issue if she followed the rules,” Holt shot back. “But I’m sure she believes herself above them. Monroe always coddled that girl. It’s no wonder she’s such a spoiled brat.”

  Connor took the front of Holt’s shirt in his fists. “Watch yourself, friend.”

  Holt shoved Connor away without missing a beat. Whiny as he might seem, Holt obviously had muscle to spare. “And here would be Lolita’s great champion, come to rescue her.”

  Ethan grabbed Connor’s shoulder and hauled him back before he could throw a punch.

  “That’s enough!” Despite her war-weariness, Anika’s voice was still cold and hard as steel, easily silencing the room.

  “Holt, we can discuss your concerns when the Guides meet this evening,” Anika said. “Now isn’t the time.”

  “Your will, Anika,” Holt replied stiffly. “Who am I to question the Arrow’s judgment?”

  He cast a snide glance at Connor, who was still being firmly held in check by Ethan, before he left the room. Two other Searchers trailed after Holt, and Sabine could only assume they shared his opinions. She grimaced. Anyone who made a habit of gathering cronies had to be bad news.

  Ethan let go of Connor. “Holt couldn’t be more of an ass. Don’t let him get to you. He’s not worth it.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Connor growled.

  “It’s not,” Ethan said. “But we won’t do Adne any good by brawling.”

  “It didn’t have to be a full-on brawl.” Connor cracked his knuckles. “I would have settled for getting one good punch in . . . at least for the time being. And I don’t see how it would hurt, since no one will tell me what the hell happened to Adne.”

  He shot a bitter look at Anika.

  “You’ll be with her soon enough,” Anika sighed. “Mikaela, please open a door to Rowan Estate.”

  The fidgeting girl drew long silver skeins from her belt and began to weave. Though Mikaela had seemed skittish in the face of conflict, as she pulled threads of light through the air, she became utterly possessed by her spellcraft.

  Though Sabine had witnessed it many times, the Weavers’ art nevertheless filled her with awe in a way no other magic did. Living among the Searchers had afforded Sabine the opportunity to observe many things about her former enemies, but the truth that struck her most deeply was this: Throughout her life as a Guardian, she’d witnessed Keeper magic time and time again. Their conjurations and summonings had been masterpieces of terror. But not once in all her years serving the Keepers had Sabine felt wonder.

  And that was the essence of what separated the two sides of the Witches’ War. The Nether magics of the Keepers relied on fear and domination. The elemental magics of the Searchers manifested in creation and possibility. It was hardly surprising, then, that to draw upon one of these competing sources of power meant forsaking the other.

  Watching as the multihued strands of light combined to reveal the hazy image of Rowan Estate’s interior, Sabine found it hard to understand what could compel someone to give up the beauty of the elemental for the grotesque of the Nether. Then again, Sabine couldn’t see the Keepers’ power as anything but repulsive. She knew too intimately its corruptive nature.

  “You’ll be met on the other side of the portal,” Anika told them. “If you’ll excuse me, I have other business to attend to.”

  “That’s it?” Connor blurted at the Arrow. “You raise the alarm, tell me nothing, and then don’t even bother to see this through—whatever the hell it is?”

  “Connor.” Ethan’s voice had a warning note, but Anika lifted her hand to pacify him.

  “Of course you’re upset,” Anika told Connor. “And I’m very worried about Adne. I’ll be kept informed about the situation and take any necessary steps as we learn more. But you have to understand, there are other things . . .”

  “Sarah, wait!”

  Sabine turned as a dark-haired woman with a tear-streaked face rushed into the room. Sarah Doran. The sight of Shay’s mother tied a knot in Sabine’s throat. The look of haunted grief that Sabine remembered from her meeting with Sarah in the Rowan Estate library was still there, but a new expression half covered her sorrow. There was a wild light in Sarah’s eyes and a feverish flush to her cheeks.

  The man who’d shouted after Sarah as she ran into Haldis Tactical was Tristan, Sarah’s husband and Shay’s father. He threw an apologetic look at Anika and grasped Sarah’s wrist.

  “Sarah, let’s talk about this,” Tristan urged in a whisper, glancing at Sabine and her companions. “Be reasonable.”

  Sarah ripped her arm free and kept walking until she stood inches away from the Arrow.

  “All I want to do is tell Anika the truth.” Sarah glared at Tristan. “Stop acting like I’m crazy. I know what I saw.”

  “What’s going on?” Anika looked from Sarah to Tristan.

  “He came back,” Sarah told Anika through a breathless smile. “He came back to the mansion. He wants to come home.”

  “Sarah—” Tristan started, but Anika held up her hand to cut him off.

  “Who came back?”

  “Shay,” Sarah said. “I watched him bring that girl to the back door. He dragged her through the snow.”

  “Wait, what?” Connor’s skin went chalky. “Are you talking about Adne?”

  Sarah threw a cursory glance at him. “I’m sure she’s fine. Shay wouldn’t hurt her. He’s not a monster. I know it.”

  Sabine moved so she stood face-to-face with Sarah. “You saw Shay? At Rowan Estate?”

  “In the garden.” Sarah nodded. She turned back to Anika. “Don’t you understand what this means, Anika? We have to help him.”

  “Sarah,” Anika replied in a curt voice, “this isn’t the time. We should discuss this in private. Go to the kitchen and get some coffee. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

  “Fine.” Sarah pivoted around and left the room, leaving Tristan to gaze after her.

  “I’m afraid I’m losing her,” Tristan said to Anika. “She’s getting worse.”

  “You think she’s lying?” Connor asked. “That she just imagined seeing Shay?”

  “How could it be otherwise?” Tristan rubbed his bloodshot eyes. Sabine wondered how many sleepless nights Shay’s father had passed since his return to the Roving Academy. “She can’t accept that Shay isn’t coming back.”

  “I don’t disagree on that last point,” Anika told him. “But Sarah might not be lying about having seen a wolf.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Tristan shot Anika a hostile look.

  “Go after Sarah,” Anika replied. “I’ll explain in a bit.”

  Frowning, Tristan gave a brief nod and left them.

  “What was that about?” Ethan asked as Anika drew a long, shuddering breath.

  “I wish I could say I knew,” Anika answered in a clipped tone. “Strange things are
afoot. You’ll understand what I mean when you get to Rowan Estate. It’s better if you see for yourself.”

  Anika didn’t wait for anyone to answer. She drew herself up straight and walked with purpose from the room.

  “You heard the lady.” Connor jerked his chin toward the portal. “Let’s go.”

  Sabine followed Connor through the light-filled door. Her skin prickled in the charged air for a few seconds and then she stood in the immense foyer of Rowan Estate. The moment Ethan arrived at her side, the portal winked closed.

  “I guess Mikaela isn’t joining us?” Sabine said, noting that the Weaver had closed the portal from the Academy side.

  “She’s a pretty new Weaver.” The answer came from the top of the stairs. A woman with shining black ringlets and bright blue eyes looked down at them. “Still finding her feet. It’ll be a month or two before she’s ready for the field.”

  “Tess!” Connor bounded up the stairs and caught her in a tight embrace. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still breaking down the Denver hideout.”

  “I was.” Tess smiled at him. “And it’s broken down. Anika gave me a new assignment, starting now.”

  Sabine and Ethan reached the top of the stairs as Connor asked, “New job, eh?”

  Tess nodded. “I’ll fill you in later. You should go to Ariadne now. Shiloh will take you there.” She gestured to the young man standing beside her. He had the bearing of a warrior, strong-set shoulders and watchful eyes. His dark hair curled gently at his ears and the nape of his neck, and the pale blue of his irises contrasted sharply with the caramel shade of his skin.

  “Shiloh just completed his Academy trials,” Tess told them. “He’ll be joining Haldis as a Striker.”

  “Welcome aboard,” Ethan said, offering his hand.

  Shiloh nodded, returning the gesture. “It’s an honor to be part of the team.”

  He gave Sabine a curious look. She’d seen it before.

  “Yep.” Sabine smiled a bit dangerously. “I’m the one who used to be a Guardian.”

  Shiloh had the decency to blush, which made Sabine like him.

  Looking to Connor, Shiloh said, “I’ll take you to Ariadne.”

  He gave a quick nod to Tess and then led Connor toward the east wing of the mansion. Sabine started to follow, but Tess caught her arm.

  “You’ll get to see her soon enough,” Tess said. “But there’s something else we have to deal with.”

  Without further explanation, Tess descended the stairs. Sabine and Ethan followed her through the ground floor of Rowan Estate. Sabine knew this route well. Tess was leading them toward the kitchen.

  When they reached the cavernous space of ovens, cooktops, and copper pots and pans, Tess didn’t pause but instead went right to the back door. Opening the door, Tess stopped before stepping outside.

  “That’s quite the draft you’re letting in,” Ethan said, but Sabine heard the nervous edge to his voice. “You do remember that we pay the heating bills for this place now?”

  Tess gave him a wry smile that quickly faded. “This is where they found her.”

  “What are you talking about?” Sabine asked. She looked at the snow outside the doorway and saw it—the impression left there by a body. “You mean Adne? Who found her? What was she doing outside?”

  “The morning patrol found her,” Tess answered. “She was unconscious and just outside this door.”

  “Is she okay?” Ethan asked.

  Sabine bit her lip, as worried as Ethan. In this weather it wouldn’t take long for hypothermia to set in. What could have sent Adne out in the cold?

  “The Eydis Elixirs were able to bring her body temperature up,” Tess told them. “And from what they could discern without speaking with Adne, their best guess is that she wasn’t at the door very long—which is a damn lucky thing.”

  Ethan frowned, gazing at the dented snow. “What the hell was she doing?”

  “I don’t think we’ll find out until she wakes up,” Tess told him. “But that’s not the only thing I’m concerned about.”

  Tess pointed to the snow just beyond the shape Adne’s prostrate form had left. “Sabine, tell me what you see there.”

  Sabine looked at the place Tess indicated. Her heart knocked hard against her ribs. Before the place Adne’s body had come to rest was a trail in the snow.

  “Someone dragged her here,” Sabine said quietly.

  “Not someone,” Tess replied. She pointed again and Sabine saw them. In the snow beside the drag marks were unmistakable tracks. Wolf prints.

  “Oh my God,” Sabine breathed. Had Adne been in trouble and had the Haldis pack, sensing it, come to her aid? Was that even possible? “Sarah was right.”

  “Are those . . .” Ethan stopped speaking and stared at the tracks.

  “What do you think, Sabine?” Tess asked quietly.

  Sabine shook her head slowly. “I have no idea. It doesn’t seem like the pack would range this close to a populated area. Wolves don’t like humans. But Sarah said she saw Shay.”

  “And these aren’t ordinary wolves,” Ethan said. “That matters, doesn’t it?”

  “Except they are ordinary wolves now,” Sabine replied. “For all intents and purposes the closing of the Rift means that Guardians are one hundred percent wolf.”

  Tess nodded. “That’s what I’ve been given to understand. But is it possible that they could have some residual memory? Shay in particular? Right before the Rift closed, we all knew he was the wild card. I think most of us were surprised when he ended up a wolf.”

  “Sabine.” Ethan looked at her. “You’ve seen the pack more than anyone else. Have you noticed anything about Shay? Anything not wolfy going on there?”

  Sabine thought about her trips up the mountainside. The hours she’d spent watching the wolves near Haldis Cavern. She’d seen them and they’d seen her. At times she’d believed the pack knew her. Knew that she once belonged with them. But Sabine wasn’t entirely convinced that belief was any more than wishful thinking. A cold comfort drawn from the past.

  And Shay hadn’t seemed any different from the other wolves. He was their alpha. They were his pack. All seemed right in their world.

  “Not that I noticed, but I guess anything is possible,” Sabine said. “What happened here when the Rift closed . . . it was new. I don’t think anyone can know the full ramifications.”

  “I suppose not,” Tess sighed.

  “Are you okay?” Ethan rested his hand on Sabine’s shoulder.

  She nodded, though her pulse still hummed in her veins, not quite frantic, but faster than she liked. Sabine let herself lean against Ethan, but turned her head toward Tess.

  “Not that I mind,” Sabine said, “but how is it that you’re the one asking all these questions? Is that your new job? Head Inquisitor?”

  Tess laughed, rubbing the back of her neck as though abashed. “I’m not quite sure what Anika was thinking, but when the Arrow asks you to step up, you say yes.”

  “Sounds important,” Ethan said.

  “I’ll say.” Tess nodded. “I hope you’ll keep not minding me being in charge, Sabine, because I’m your new Guide.”

  SHILOH WASN’T much of a talker, Connor found, and it was driving him a little nuts. Not knowing what had befallen Adne left Connor at his wits’ end. His only means of distracting himself was his usual fallback—easy banter. But with Shiloh it seemed that banter was neither usual nor easy.

  “You’re a fan of the classics, I take it?” Connor asked, attempting yet another foray into conversation.

  “I’m sorry?” Shiloh kept a brisk pace as they walked through Rowan Estate’s east wing.

  “Warrior archetype,” Connor answered. “Tall, dark, silent. You fit the bill. I can respect that.”

  Shiloh didn’t answer.

  “Good for you, not breaking character,” Connor muttered.

  When they stopped in front of a door, Connor swore under his breath in relief.

  Shi
loh gave a quick rap on the heavy wood. A robed woman, one of the Eydis healers, answered his knock.

  “Is it all right for us to come in?” Shiloh asked.

  Screw all right, Connor thought. If the woman objected, he was determined to blow right past her.

  Even so, he was glad when she nodded and stepped aside to let him pass. Connor had been telling himself all morning that no matter what he saw when they brought him to Adne, he’d stay calm. He managed . . . sort of.

  Connor didn’t shout or cry, but he did run to the bedside and grasp Adne’s hand before asking anyone if it was okay to do so. Her fingers were cool in his grip, but not frigid. He knelt beside the bed, trying to gather as much information as he could by just looking at her.

  She was far too pale. That was clear. Adne’s skin was always fair, but the blush of life that painted her cheeks was missing. She looked cold. Like time had frozen her in place.

  It occurred to Connor how sick stories like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were. There wasn’t anything romantic or hopeful in this scene. Anyone who loved a person and found them in a state like this wouldn’t feel heroic or courageous. Connor only encountered a near-overwhelming despair.

  “What happened to her?” He managed to croak out the words.

  “We’re not certain,” the healer answered. “The morning patrol found her outside the mansion, unconscious, and we haven’t been able to wake her. But I can assure you that she’s out of immediate danger.”

  That news brought Connor some comfort, but not much. Physically, Adne might be stable, but something else plagued her. Something that had driven her to Rowan Estate in the middle of the night. But what?

  Adne’s fingers twitched in Connor’s grasp. She started to murmur and Connor thought she was waking, but her eyes remained closed.

  “She’s been restless like that on and off,” the healer told Connor. “We can’t make sense of her words.”

  Connor stood up and bent over Adne, listening as she spoke in a quiet, breathless tone.

  “Ren . . . Ren . . . Don’t let him take me. Please. Don’t let him take me. Ren.”

  Connor dropped Adne’s hand and took a few steps back.