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I don't wake Cadence, and not for lack of trying.

After standing over her for 10 minutes, trying to conjure the courage to nudge her shoulder or murmur her name, I end up slumping on the ground next to the horse, my head resting against the wheel.

My conversation with Killian plays over in my mind like a haunting tune. The weight of this life-altering secret and what Cadence did in the cloud is heavy on my chest. Killian is right; she can never know. I'm not sure she'd be able to handle it.

But the moral dilemma of revealing the truth to her is the only thing that plagues my mind.

"Frey?"

I twist my neck towards the stream. Casimir glides across the bank towards me, his eyes cast low. I glance over his shoulder to find him alone.

"Is she awake?"

I shake my head, no. "We can't tell her what happened, Cas. It would destroy her. You need to make sure Elex doesn't say anything."

"I know." His voice is grave as he settles beside me, looking out at the stream. It trickles against the raised boulder edging the bank. Knee indents rest in the mud where I rested, soaking the cloth to wipe the blood from Cadence's skin.

"Where are the others?"

"Killian and the girl are talking, Elex is keeping a close eye on them." I don't miss the suspicion in his tone, and I don't blame him. They may never have gotten along, but I'm not the only one Killian betrayed. "We need to get going," he says. "Soon."

I sigh. "I know. Ereon's men will be after us--"

"Not just Ereon. Killian and that shifter girl." He lowers his voice, glancing over his shoulder as if they'll pop out from behind him. "Elex and I have a plan."

I swallow the lump in my throat. "A plan?"

He nods. "We'll have to split up to lose them. You and me; Elex and Cadence."

A shot of adrenaline pulses through my veins at his words. Escape. Once, the prospect of escaping Killian and Lei was all I'd wanted. The discomfort at not feeling that same desperation doesn't evade me. Killian, the cloud, Samu, Elel--I try to identify the emotions rushing through my head, but they all tangle together into strings of knotted thoughts.

The next words spill out before I can stop them. "We can't."

"Don't worry about Samu, we'll get him back. We still have their map. We'll get him back on our own. I heard that girl, Lei, talking about you, Frey. About the Cloud Piercer and what they want you to do. If they manage to get their hands tightly wrapped around you again, there's no way they're letting you go."

Except Killian already did once. Would he do it again?

The cloud swirls in my memory. What it did to Cadence. To Raven. The choking sensation I felt as I listened to the agonising screams of my loved ones.

"They think I can stop it," I whisper. "The cloud. That's why they want me."

"Don't be afraid. I won't let them hurt you."

"You're not hearing me." I grab his hand, wrap it tightly in my own. "I think I have to try."

His expression freezes as my words sink in, his jaw tensing as we stare at one another in the harsh glare of the morning sun. I don't say anything more; I don't have to. Right from when we were young he could read me from just a look. I used to hate that, but right now, when my own words terrify me, it's never been more of a blessing.

"Try." He repeats the word like it tastes sour. "You want to try and stop... the cloud."

"Cadence killed Raven. Cadence."

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