13. Something that Feeds in the Night

Chapter 13

Something that Feeds in the Night

LORI

I wake up in a cold sweat, tangled in the bed sheets. Holy shit! I press a hand to my lips. The memory of the kiss Elio gave Iris in that maze is vivid and raw, and I forget where I am for a moment. Not in the maze about to have sex with a younger version of Elio, but in a dorm room full of women.

I just know it really happened. The leftover taste of magic in my mouth is too clear and powerful for it to be anything but a glimpse of the past. My mother used to get visions all the time, according to my dad. Maybe I've finally unlocked her legacy as an oracle. What if the power laid dormant, and seeing Iris's body finally unlocked it? Maybe I look like her for a reason, but that's scary as fuck.

Ice beats on the dark windows. Aster is sitting alone on the large windowsill with her duvet wrapped around her frame and a pillow propped behind her back. Her nails click along the glass as she observes the castle grounds below.

A high-pitched moan reaches my ears. I look around the room, but we're all here.

" Argh , there they go again," Aster whines as she tightens the duvet around her body.

My brows furrow. "Who?"

"Seth and those two dumb Winter seeds from the ball."

I press the heel of my hand to my forehead, annoyed beyond belief that Seth decided to have a threesome after the night we've had.

"You look wretched, Sixteen," Daisy chimes from the cot on my right. She rolls to her side and plays with the pink scrunchy holding her long braid in place. "Did you have a nightmare? Cause that shit's not natural."

"Of course not."

"Sure seemed like you did?—"

"There's someone out there… by the entrance of the maze," Aster breathes.

Daisy frowns from her bed. "Are you nuts? Anyone standing in this storm would freeze to death in minutes ."

Aster shoots her a nasty look. "Not the king. Or one of his reapers."

Poppy slides out of bed to check on her friend's claim, and I dangle my legs over the edge of the cot, feeling groggy and numb. My long black hair falls over my shoulder, full of knots and wavy from the sweat.

Poppy muffles a high-pitched squeal with her hand. "Aster's right. There's someone out there." She motions us forward.

Blood whooshes at my temples as I wrap a sheet around me and walk to the window. The storm allows for an intermittent and incomplete look at the entrance of the maze. The dark shapes of the cedar hedges blur in the distance, and my heart gives a big thud. The maze… I shake my head to erase the aftertaste of my vision and avert my gaze.

Daisy rolls her eyes. "There's nothing to see."

"I saw her, I swear. A woman." Aster runs to the door and wrenches it open. She tightens the duvet around her frame and walks outside to peer over the parapet. "I think she needs help."

A burst of wind swirls inside the room, and the two other girls stir in their beds. "What's going on?"

"Can someone shut the door, please?"

Daisy dashes to the open door and curls a hand around the frame. "Aster? Come back inside and close the damn door."

"She's right there!" Aster shouts over the wind.

Daisy steps out in the snow. "Aster, stop fucking around and come back. You're in your pajamas, for Eros' sake."

Poppy draws a sharp intake of breath and backs away from the windows. "Guys… Aster is going into the maze."

Without giving myself the time to think about it, I lace up my winter boots and throw my cloak on.

Ice and snow scatter in Daisy's wake as she bolts back inside, her feet and fingers red from the cold. "What's gotten into her? Seth will know what to do—" She pauses as I walk past her. "Where are you going?"

"Get Seth. I'm chasing after Aster." I pull my hood over my head and slip outside, sealing the door behind me. Aster is a privileged and pampered mortal. She won't survive alone in this storm.

Huge chunks of snow hit my face, coming from all directions at once. They frost over my eyelashes and sting my cheeks as I draw in a deep, soothing breath. I don't have much experience with Fae winter storms, but I know the night like the back of my hand.

Spiders see perfectly well in the dark.

I slide down the stairs, the boots supple and comfortable, and vanish into the shadows. Even if Poppy and Daisy are watching the entrance of the maze, they won't see me now. The woman Aster caught a glimpse of was probably harnessing a few shadows herself, which means it might be the woman I came here to find.

This morning, when we walked through the labyrinth, I couldn't tell left from right, but I know this maze, now. I'd never stepped foot in this forsaken garden before today and yet I could map it out by heart.

A powerful magic is at work here. Whatever forces sent the vision also rewrote parts of my brain, and I shake all over as I follow a fresh trail of footsteps in the snow. The King's private gardens quickly come into view, the Hawthorn's dark shape visible in the distance.

A woman stands right below it, and I pick up the pace. "Aster?"

But the silhouette in the distance isn't Aster. Long black waves peek from under the woman's hooded navy-blue cloak, and my heart slips past my feet. Morrigan.

Shadows creep along the hills of fresh snow, and I fashion them into a shield, slowly walking toward my mark to take a closer look and confirm her identity. I can't quite see her face, but the height and build is right.

At the bottom of the three towers, a hidden door opens to the Winter King himself. I stop abruptly, and a heap of snow gives under my feet, sucking me in. The thickness of the mound prevents me from moving without giving away my position.

The hooded woman leans into Elio and hooks her elbow around his offered arm. He steps aside in invitation, and the woman slips past him, disappearing inside the castle.

The Winter King's blue eyes pierce the darkness, and I push my magic further, piling shadows over shades, desperate for him not to see me. I count to ten in my head, Elio still glaring at the scenery like he knows something doesn't quite add up.

My chest heaves when he finally slams the door shut.

What the fuck is going on here? If Elio is getting cozy with Morrigan, why would he bother with the Yule pageant at all? Why wouldn't he just marry her?

I climb out of the snow trap and double back to find Aster. I'm halfway through the path leading to the dorms when I catch a glimpse of her heading down a deep, dark passage.

"…so freaking cold…thank you…" she says, and her lips continue to move for a moment like she's speaking to someone in front of her, but the wind drowns out the rest of her sentence.

"Come, Lori…" the breeze whispers.

I pause. "Aster? Aster, wait!"

She rounds a tight corner and disappears from my line of sight. I hurry over to the space she just occupied, my boots struggling to gain traction, the crust of ice beneath the fresh snow less traveled in this section of the maze.

Beyond the turn, a long, narrow corridor opens to a wide four-way node, and Aster stops. "I don't think we're going the right way," she says.

A human-shaped shadow walks in front of her, and I break into a run to catch up. "Hey!" I shout after them.

"Come."

Snow swirls in front of my face. I have no choice but to slow down and carefully press forward with my arms extended. At last, the wind changes direction and blows the snowflakes away from my eyes.

I screech to a halt.

In the middle of the empty circular passage, Aster has turned into an ice statue, her gaze angled to the sky. Dead.

A big chunk of ice near the ground acts as a doll stand, holding her upright. With blue lips and white eyes, she looks like she's been here for hours and not only a few seconds.

I backtrack, spooked, and summon my daggers to life. "Show yourself!"

Did I see the reaper come for her soul? Or catch a glimpse of her attacker as they fled? Adrenaline coils my muscles, and I raise my blades to each of the moving branches in the hedge, expecting them to reveal an ice monster—or even one of Morrigan's spiders.

Morheim has barely ended. Regular nightmares might still be prowling around Faerie, too. The strong wind whips my hair forward and blinds me again. Cold sweat ices over my brows, and I wipe it off with my impractical fur sleeves.

With a sickening crack , Aster's body slumps to the ground just as another icy gust hits me square in the chest. I blink away the frost and observe the four paths leading out of the node. Fuck.

All of them look the same, and my footprints in the snow have been erased by the storm. The hedges tower high above me, indistinguishable from one another. The map I'd unlocked from the confines of my mind vanishes, retreating back to some impregnable attic inside my brain. I don't know which way to go, anymore.

I'm lost.

The heating spell keeping the cloak and boots dry and warm tapers off, my arms and legs shaking from the cold. The chafe of snow and fear numbs my fingers, and I wonder for a moment if I'm not going to turn to ice, too.

I try to grab Aster's blanket from the ground to create a barrier over my head and block the endless onslaught of snow, but it's frozen solid.

Keep your head, Lori . This is just another hunt—only I'm hunting for the exit.

Deep breaths, in and out. In and out. Shadow magic pulses in my palms as I climb on top of the hedge in hopes of spotting the mountain range or the castle. The cedar bushes snap and crack under my weight, but I'm not called a spider for nothing. Perched over the maze, I catch a glimpse of the castle lights burning in the distance.

I'm only a few corners away from freedom, but also a few wrong turns away from death, so I double-check every single one of them. Each of my muscles screams in agony, but I won't let winter claim me. Not before I find some answers.

By the time I finally make it out, the storm is almost over, and the soft light of dawn streaks through the white sky.

"She's here!" Daisy runs over to me from her sentry position on the parapet. "Stupid girl. Running off into an ice storm like that," she scolds as she rubs some warmth and life back into me.

Sarafina emerges from the dorms, Byron perched on her shoulder. The chief of staff's thick white coat and matching ski pants capture my attention as she climbs down the stairs. Such warmth would be divine.

Her gaze searches the trail behind me like she expects Aster to follow in my footsteps. "Where is your friend?"

"She died. Turned into an ice statue in the blink of an eye." I watch her face, trying to see past the Fae to the woman that lies beneath. Does she really not know what's going on here? Or is she just pretending?

Sarafina turns to Byron, her hardened gaze sharp enough to break stones. "I want the maze searched and investigated. I want to know who did this."

The Faeling considers her demand with a grave nod and flies away.

A camera hovers right over Sarafina's head as she unfolds a large blanket and wraps it over my shoulders. "What's your name again?"

A cottony warmth cuddles me from all sides, and my tensed muscles sigh in relief, but I roll my eyes at the formality. Sarafina couldn't have forgotten my name already, not after the scene I had caused at the ball.

"Lori." I grunt, still shivering despite the effects of the enchanted blanket. "But you already knew that."

Her pale blue eyes snap over to me, and I get the feeling she'd strangle me if she could. "Did you see anything out in the storm?"

"I don't know what I saw. It was pitch-black outside."

I'm not supposed to see well in the dark, and I can't risk it all—gamble Ayaan's life—on a hunch. If I really saw Morrigan enter the castle, then Sarafina must be in on it. The same logic dictates that she'd know if an ice monster lurked around the Winter King's gardens. She must be pretending not to know because of the cameras.

Seth runs out of the dorms, the door left hanging open behind him as he takes the stairs two at a time. "Lori! I'm here." He wades through the thick snow separating us, sinking deeper with each step, his unzipped coat flapping in the waning breeze.

Paul steps out behind him and leans over the parapet. "Ah, the woman in question!" A flock of eyeballs buzzes in Paul's wake as he climbs down the stairs and clasps his hands. "So good to see you in one piece, Lori. You topped the public votes, but a little longer, and we would have had to leave without you. The horses and sleighs will arrive in ten minutes."

Is that what this was all about? If I hadn't been a trained Shadow huntress, I would never have found my way back in this storm, and I'd be dead or lost—eliminated from the Yule pageant.

"Aster is dead," I repeat. The trivial way they treat the news boils my blood.

"What rotten business, but the show must go on, as they say." He takes a glimpse inside his leather planner. "Rose can take her place."

"Is that all you have to say?" I croak.

Seth presses his lips together and wraps an arm around my shoulders, guiding me forward and away from the insensitive host. "Careful," he whispers in my ear. " Accidents happen every year. We won't get closer to the truth by throwing a fit in front of the cameras." He clears his throat and speaks louder for everyone to hear. "Come along, my flowers. We have to get ready."

Sarafina walks past us to the entrance of the labyrinth. "The storm put us behind schedule. Get her warm and hydrated, and I'll meet you out front." She tucks her hands inside her muffs and throws me a glance over her shoulder. "We should arrive in Snowhaven after sundown, right in time for the challenge."

The dubious smile on her lips doesn't bode well for me. I almost follow her back into the maze, starving for answers, but I hang on to Seth instead. The scoundrel owes me an explanation.

I use him as a crutch and let him guide me toward the dorms, my lips inches from his pointy ear. "Remember when you told me I shouldn't mind your reasons for this charade? Well, it's time to fess up, Seth. Either you tell me exactly why you enlisted me to do this, or I'm out. Why are you hunting Morrigan? Why do you need her alive?"

His lips thin, and the clench of his jaw erases all traces of cockiness or immaturity from his handsome face. He manhandles me inside the dorms, past the dressing room and into the narrow corridor leading to his private quarters. "Morrigan took my baby brother. He's been missing for two years now."

A thin sheen of sweat gathers above his brows. We exchange a heavy glance, my earlier bravado knotted in my throat as he hands me a fresh towel and pushes me toward the bathroom.

"We're the same, you and I. We're both here to save someone we love. And no matter who dies, we can't afford to fuck up."