1

Leander

(Author’s Note: If you haven’t read Book 1, Fae’s Captive, or Book 2, Road to Winter, you’re going to want to do that before starting Bite of Winter.)

“Release her.” The Vundi warrior astride Kyrin raises the obsidian blade and points at me.

I hold the Vundi leader in my grasp, her death only a whisper away. All I have to do is squeeze and her neck will break in my palm.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Gareth takes a step toward Kyrin, but the warrior brings the blade down to Taylor’s side, almost touching her with it. My mate.

Another blast of cold whips through the air around me, and the leader groans. The feral fae in my ** demands I kill them all and take back what’s mine. I want to agree. I’m almost there, my bloodlust welling inside me with a sweeping vengeance I’ve never felt before.

“That female?” Gareth risks another step. “Is Leander’s mate. And he hasn’t claimed her yet. Do you have any idea what he will do to you if you harm her?”

I lift the Vundi leader higher as she claws at my arm. Killing her will be a pleasure. And the one who touched Taylor? I will end him slowly. Tie him to Kyrin and drag him through the Red Plains as we make our way to the winter realm.

“Release Para.” The Vundi juts his chin toward me.

A few warriors rise from the road, their wounds not enough to keep them down. They should have stayed on the ground. I’m done talking, done negotiating, done with anyone or anything that tries to keep me from my mate.

“Easy now, Leander. We can solve this.” Gareth holds a hand out toward me, his entire posture reminiscent of a wince, as if he knows the murder brewing in my soul.

“Yes, we can.” I whistle a sharp burst of three notes.

Kyrin bucks hard. I throw the Vundi leader to the ground and rush forward. Taylor lands in my arms as the Vundi with the obsidian blade flies off the back of my horse.

Her eyes flutter open. “What the—”

The Vundi warrior must have bespelled her to sleep. Gareth backs to me, his blade in front of him as the Vundi warriors regroup. A tall red cloud grows in the distance, a sense of foreboding on the already-tense air.

“Are you hurt?” I kiss Taylor’s forehead.

“No.” She blinks hard. “I was riding away, but then I saw the Vundi. He has the strangest eyes. And then I … fell asleep somehow.”

I put her on her feet and keep her behind me as I turn to face the Vundi leader. She’s grasping her injured neck. I should have snapped it. There are too many Vundi warriors, and now that Taylor is in the thick of it, there’s no way for us to get out without risking her. But I can’t give her up.

The leader, Para, straightens her shoulders and grabs one of the blades from her slain brethren. Her soldiers advance. Hooves catch my ear as Beth pounds up on Sabre, but she slows as she approaches the fray.

“Stand down, proud Vundi.” Though it takes every bit of self-control I have, I lower my blade—but not all the way. “If we continue like this, more of your people will die. I don’t want that. But you must know that I will kill you all to keep my mate safe.” I motion to Gareth, and he holds his hands up, a maelstrom of wild magic swirling between them. The red cloud behind the Vundi grows, the sun turning a shade of crimson as dust rises high in the air.

Para winces and holds up her hand. “We can’t let you go. Not with her.”

“Seems we’re at an impasse.” Gareth lets his magic expand, but not too much. If it gets any bigger, he won’t be able to control it.

Ice builds in my veins, choking my thoughts, the feral fae ruling me and demanding vengeance against anyone who would harm my mate.

Para’s eyes widen as she looks at the two of us, but she doesn’t back down.

“Wait.” Taylor tries to step from behind me, but I don’t let her. She growls a little, and my cock hardens despite the circumstances.

She leans out a little so her voice will carry. “Can we at least talk about this? If we can’t solve it, then fight after, okay?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Para coughs, her throat no doubt raw. “I can’t let this opportunity go. If I give you to the king beyond the mountain, he’s promised crystal and coin. Enough for my people to survive, even thrive. No more going hungry, no more sending what little we have to that bitch on the throne. And all I need is you.”

“You go hungry?” Taylor’s voice softens.

“It’s a hard life out here.” Para lowers her weapon just a hair. “Harder when the fae at Byrn Varyndr demand what little we’re able to farm.” The bitterness in her voice could kill a woodland fairy. “We keep our warriors fed, but others …” She shakes herself and raises her blade. “I won’t watch another child go hungry when all I have to do is turn you over. I’m prepared to die for it.”

My cold seeps through the ground, snaking toward the warriors. She’s prepared to die. I will grant her a quick end.

Taylor pulls on my arm and leans forward, her gaze locked with Para’s. “Para, is it? I know what it’s like to be hungry. Not the sort where you’ve missed a meal or wake up too late for breakfast. I’m talking about the kind where it hurts. The kind that makes you wonder how long you can stand it. And the kind where, eventually, you don’t even feel it anymore. You’ve gone so long without that you can barely feel anything at all.”

Para blinks, then nods slowly. “Yes. That’s exactly what it is. Too many of my people suffer it, and you’re the way to change all that. I can’t let you leave.”

My ice grows, coating everything and cracking the red dirt beneath it. I should slay them all and leave nothing alive. And then I will comfort my mate, assure her that she will never go hungry again.

Taylor squeezes my arm and whispers, “Hang on. Give me a chance, please.”

I keep the magic at bay, the ice stopping like the edge of a frozen lake just in front of the Vundi.

Taylor raises her voice again and addresses Para. “I don’t know you, but I don’t want you to die. And maybe you haven’t noticed, but Leander is on the verge of freezing all of you to death. Can we all just pull back and talk about this? Everyone put their weapons down.”

Para finally breaks her eye contact with Taylor and looks up at me. Her brows furrow and she lets out a low sigh, as if she’s defeated, disgusted, or just tired. Based on the circles under her eyes and her gaunt cheeks, no longer hidden by the scarf, I would guess the latter. She seems to weigh Taylor’s words, then says, “Winter king, give me your word you will keep your magic in abeyance during our talks, and I will have my people stand down. But I make no promises, not to you or your changeling, about what happens after we meet with the council and the high priestess.”

“We can’t trust her,” I growl.

“Leander, please. Hasn’t there been enough death?” Taylor rests her forehead against my back, her warmth soothing the cold heart of winter inside me. “If there’s a chance we can talk our way out of this, we should at least try.”

I wrestle with my need to destroy them, to freeze their hearts until the threat is gone. But the non-feral part of me is yelling to stand down. With every day that passes, that voice gets quieter and quieter, the feral side of me growing louder.

“Leander.” She strokes her hand down my back. “Please, for me.”

“Anything for you.” Even the feral fae can agree to that, though it still sneaks in a whisper of “claim her, here on the ground in front of them all” before dissipating along with my ice. “Gareth.” I give him a nod.

“Weapons down, all of you.” He shrinks the ball of destruction between his palms until it disappears.

Para whistles high and sharp, and her warriors sheathe their blades and drop back, but not far.

“The storm is almost here.” The warrior who wields Taylor’s obsidian blade steps to Para’s side. Light brown scales fan out from beneath his crimson scarf, ending along the lower parts of his cheeks.

“We’ve called destruction to us with the scent of blood.” He surveys the dead along the ground.

Para spares a glance over her shoulder. “The Ancestors are punishing me.”

“Dust storm.” Gareth whistles, and Sabre hurries to him. “We need to make camp before it hits.”

Kyrin walks over and nuzzles Taylor. She rubs his muzzle like an old friend.

“So we’re running from the storm, yeah? Because it doesn’t look like fun.” Beth peers into the distance.

“You can’t run from the wrath of the Ancestors.” Para motions to her warriors. They disperse, dragging their dead with them and seeping into the red oblivion on either side of the road before disappearing. The one with the scales and the obsidian blade remains, guarding Para’s back.

“Wait. I need your oath.” I’m asking for more than simple words. An oath among the fae is so serious as to be unbreakable. Any fae who ignores this fact will be branded an outcast and never allowed to speak amongst their brethren without reproach. And if the oath is serious enough, it can kill the fae who breaks it. “A promise to the Ancestors that we will be safe in your realm and that you will not attempt to take my mate.”

Para bristles, then gives a curt nod. “I will give my oath to the Ancestors that you shall not be harmed and will be treated as honored guests if you promise to never speak of what you see during your time with the Vundi.”

“And my mate?”

“She will not be harmed.”

“And you will not attempt to take her.” It’s not a question.

“We will allow you to speak to the high priestess and the council of elders. You have my word that she will not be taken before that time.”

Her companion’s eyes, now slitted like a snake’s, narrow, but he doesn’t interrupt.

“And after?”

She presses her lips into a fine line.

A growl rises in my chest, bloodlust bursting in my veins.

“She can’t promise that, Leander. Not yet,” Taylor says softly. “But that’s what the talks are for. It gives us a chance.”

A guttural shriek tears across the wide plains.

“Decide quickly,” the male Vundi says. “There’s more in the storm than simply dust.”

“Do you agree, winter king?” Para presses.

Taylor leans against me, a silent promise that she isn’t going anywhere. “Please, Leander.”

I bend to the will of my mate, because she is the only reason my heart beats and my breath stirs. “I agree.” The sizzle of magic whips through the air, and the deal is struck.

“Follow me.” Para turns and heads into the low brush as her companion eyes us.

“You will return my mate’s blade.” I glare at him.

He doesn’t respond, but motions for us to follow Para, the sword still in his grasp. I’ll retrieve it later and may use it on him for good measure.

Gareth shoots me a look. “I don’t trust her.”

“Neither do I.” I lift Taylor onto Kyrin and climb up behind her. “But we need to beat this storm. I’ve heard enough tales of what lurks in the swirling dust to know we need shelter. We must follow, but keep your wits sharp and your magic ready.”

“Always.” He settles behind Beth, and we follow Para into the red wastes as the storm bears down, promising ruin.

2

Taylor

“Are you certain the Vundi didn’t harm you?” Leander asks for what seems like the dozenth time.

“I’m fine. Really.” I squeeze his hand. “It was weird. One minute I was awake and then, bam, snooze-city. That guy is like a creepy-eyed sandman, or maybe the Lunesta-Man. He could make a killing back home.”

“I would never allow him to kill you or anyone you cared about.” His arm tightens around my waist.

“No, I mean he’d make a lot of money. Humans have a ton of anxiety, so they sometimes need help falling asleep.”

“You don’t seem to have trouble.” He guides Kyrin through the brush and gently sloping red dirt. Para walks ahead of us, her back straight as she navigates the terrain like she was born to it.

I shrug. “I used to toss and turn, but now … Now that I’ve been here, it’s been easier.”

“You mean now that you’ve been sleeping with me.” I don’t miss the cockiness in his voice.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” But yes, I think it’s him. Before, I’d run through shadows from my past, every worry I had, even some that verged on imaginary, before I could fall asleep. Now, in his arms, I seem to drift away so peacefully that the transition is nothing more than a ripple across clear water.

I peer into the distance as the red storm grows taller by the second. We’ve been traveling away from the road and perpendicular to the storm for half an hour. Now I can hear the rumble of the wind, the rush of dirt brushing against dirt, and every now and then, a peculiar screech. Para doesn’t seem to notice it as she forges ahead of us. But Kyrin tenses beneath me and Sabre lets out a huff.

I finally get up the nerve to ask, “What is that sound?”

“Wind wights.” Beth’s eyes are wide. “I thought they were a myth, just a stupid story told to us changelings to keep us in line, but—” Another howl cuts through the air, louder now.

“Wights?” I stare as the heightening maelstrom turns the sun a vicious shade of crimson.

Beth’s creeped-out stare intensifies. “Spirits so malevolent they couldn’t pass to the Ancestors and refused to enter the Spires. They say they’re huge monsters formed from the blood and bones of ancient warriors.”

“Seriously?”

“A great war was fought on the Red Plains almost three thousand years ago,” Leander says. “Some of the greatest warriors of fae legend perished here, millions of dead on either side.”

“Why?” I can’t imagine the enormity of a battle like that. “What were they fighting over?”

“All of Arin.” Leander says it so matter-of-factly, as if world domination is as sensible as the sun rising in the morning. “It was a clash of seelie and unseelie fae. They say the plains used to be a beautiful land of farms and plentiful crops. But that battle created such evil that the ground turned to sand, forever stained crimson from the blood of the children of this world, the rivers dried up, and the wights rose from the mounds of the dead, their dark magic feeding from the strife.”

“That’s kind of intense.” I hug myself and try not to think of the sheer horror of war, the propensity for evil that exists in the hearts of all creatures—human, fae, everyone.

More piercing cries sound, and Beth leans forward in her saddle. “Hey, Para lady, how much longer? Because I really don’t want to feel my bones being crunched in a wind wight’s maw.”

Para shoots a glance over her shoulder but continues walking. I can’t see a path. The entire landscape looks exactly the same, as if someone took a stamp and pressed it all over the world until it meets the horizon.

“Soon. I’ll just take that to mean soon.” Beth sits back, and Gareth rests his arm around her waist. Comfortable. They look used to each other. Close, even. I can’t help my smile.

“What?” she asks.

“Nothing.”

A cacophony of screeches burst from the storm to our right, and I cover my ears out of sheer reflex.

“Don’t worry, little one. I won’t let anything harm you.” Leander’s voice rumbles through me, stroking my fears until they relent.

Para takes a sharp right, and the horses follow, though their movements are getting a bit jerky, the shrieks eating away at their confidence. I don’t blame them. The storm is a red wall rushing toward us, and if I stare hard enough, I could swear I see enormous skeletal fingers emerging from the redness every so often, like giants running full speed at us.

“God,” I breathe out hard at the sight.

“Safe, little one. Always safe with me.” Leander has one hand on the haft of his blade.

Para seems unhurried, and her companion at our back doesn’t rush us, just follows along. She walks a little while longer, then stops and steps to the side, motioning us onward.

“What is this?” Gareth stares at the landscape, which is exactly the same as the one behind us.

“Safety.” Para crosses her arms over her chest. “Hurry, before the storm hits.”

“Hurry into what?” Gareth sputters. “There’s nothing here. No shelter! We’ll be set upon by the wights and ripped to shreds.”

Para hitches a dark eyebrow. “You can either wait here and perish or follow my instructions and live.” She gestures for Gareth to continue onward. “I suggest you save yourselves. The wights sound particularly hungry, especially now that they’ve scented royal blood.” She looks to Leander. “It’s their favorite.”

Gareth glowers. “If this is a trick—”

“Suit yourselves.” Para shrugs and marches forward into the red waste. And then she … disappears.

I lean forward, my eyes likely popping out of my head. “What the hell?”

Beth yelps as if she’s been struck and stares at the spot where Para vanished. “She’s tricked us!”

“Not a trick.” Her companion strides past, my sword strapped to his side, and disappears right in front of us. The more I stare at the spot, the more something strikes me as off. This piece of land doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the landscape, as if the stamp on this area had a crack running through it.

“Hang on.” I tap Leander’s hand. “Let me down. I want to see something.”

He jumps down, his eyes wary, and then helps me to my feet. “Stay close.”

“I think ...” I sidestep and turn. “Wow.”

Leander has already drawn his sword as he hews close to me. “What is it?”

The shrieks are almost constant, and the low hum of the wind has grown to just under a din.

“An optical illusion.” I point. “Look.”

Para and her companion stand just inside a tall, rectangular doorway. “It’s masked to mimic the landscape, painted too. Look at it from any other angle, and it seems like just more of the same.” I take one step farther to the right, and the doorway disappears. “That’s kind of genius.”

“What magic is this?” Gareth frowns.

“Not magic. Perspective.” I reach out and touch the layered edge of the doorway, each inset like a piece of the horizon. “Art. No one would be able to find it if they didn’t already know where it was.”

“If you’re done, we’d like to get inside.” Para points to the roiling wall of crimson.

“Watch your tone when you speak to my queen.” Leander’s growl rivals the fury of the storm.

“It’s okay.” I turn and look up at him, his dark eyes filled with nothing but me, my reflection. Something inside my stomach flips. “We should go.”

He takes my arms and pulls me away from the door. “If anything happens, always run to me. I will keep you safe. We can’t trust the Vundi, especially not now. But they won’t take you. I will always protect you.”

“I know.” I hold his gaze, though worry twists in my gut. If it’s true that there’s a high bounty on me, how could Para resist turning me in? Especially if she’s telling the truth about her people going hungry.

A particularly sharp roar sends ice cascading down my spine, and Kyrin whinnies.

“In.” Leander motions for Gareth to ride forward.

Gareth can’t see the door, but he doesn’t question Leander. He and Beth disappear as Leander grabs Kyrin’s reins and we all walk into the red stone world of the Vundi.

3

Leander

The wind howls as the storm hits, bits of red dirt filtering down through the layers of rock and silting the floor as we walk deeper into the heart of Arin.

“I thought they were rumors.” Gareth reaches out and touches the rough-hewn rock. “But it’s true. The Vundi have a city of stone.”

“Your horses can stay here. Deep enough to be safe, but close enough to the surface for them to feel somewhat at ease. Cenet.” Para motions to her companion, who takes Sabre and Kyrin’s reins and leads them into a hallway to our right.

Kyrin gives me a long look, but I nod to him. Hay thickens along the floor as he goes, and I can see the stables farther down. I make a mental note of where we part ways and endeavor to keep a map of where we tread.

“Come.” Para leads us down the slope.

Taylor slips her hand into mine, and I force my purr to stay locked inside. The Ancestors must be testing me, putting her right within my grasp but withholding our mating. I keep my other hand on my sword. The deal has been sealed, and my mate is safe, but that doesn’t stop me from being ever on the lookout. She must be protected.

“At least it’s cooler in here.” Beth sighs. “And no wind wights. Always a plus.”

We continue down until the walls begin to smooth out, their red hue darkening and the lights burning bright and high above.

“Did the Vundi build all this?” Taylor stares at the rock that curves away from us as we enter a large chamber with two ornate doors at the end.

“Long ago, after the war that left these lands barren.”

“But the Vundi are nomads. They don’t build, only trade.” Gareth shakes his head.

“You don’t define who we are,” her companion, Cenet, says gruffly.

Gareth glowers but falls silent as we reach the wide doors. I would gloat about how wrong he’d been, but it will have to wait until we are back in the winter realm. Here, I must be on my guard.

Para waves a hand, and the doors begin to open inward with a near-silent whir. What lies inside defies even my vast knowledge of Arin. It is a wonder, one that lies hidden beneath the inhospitable red wastes above.

“I knew it was Moria!” Taylor’s excited whisper almost draws a smile from me, but the line of warriors on either side of the wide walkway temper it.

An immense cavern lies beyond, and a crystalline waterfall pours from a great height, the water refracting and creating rainbows in the spray before it lands in a basin far below. Large white crystals line the sides of the waterfall and cover the ground below where the water splashes and flows away.

“Water.” Gareth lets his disbelief show. “But the plains have no water source, only the Misty River far to the east. This isn’t possible. None of it is.” His gaze lifts to the ceilings, its surface glittering with veins of gold and white. Opposite the waterfall, an enormous silver statue of a nude fae rises, her gaze fixed on the entryway and her mouth in a mischievous smile.

“Who’s that?” Taylor appears transfixed.

“Delantis. The Vundi matriarch.” Para motions one of the guards to her, and they engage in a quick back and forth before the guard takes off across the long bridge between the statue and the waterfall.

I keep my eyes on the line of soldiers ahead of us, their curved blades honed. Some of them are bloodied, likely the same fighters we encountered on the road, and they eye us with suspicion.

Para removes her scarf and head covering, revealing a cascade of white hair. Cenet watches her closely. Are they mated?

“So, when’s supper?” Beth rocks back and forth on her heels and rubs her arms. “And where’s the fire? I think this is the coldest air I’ve ever felt.”

Gareth snorts. “This is cold to you?”

Beth rolls her eyes at him. “Is this the part where you brag about how cold the winter realm is? Because I’d rather skip it and go straight to the Vundi food part.”

Para gives her a sideways glare, then turns and heads across the bridge. “This way.”

We follow, though I’m on edge, aware of every sound and movement even though the waterfall muffles much of what goes on deeper in the cavern.

“What’s that stone?” Taylor points at the statue’s necklace.

“Soulstone.” Para doesn’t even look at the egg-shaped stone that graces the statue’s ample chest.

Taylor’s hand strays to her throat. “Does it come from—”

“Para!” A fae emerges from the arched doorway at the end of the bridge.

“Vanara.” For the first time, Para picks up her pace. This must be her commander. The fae is tall and wiry, and her age is beginning to show in the wrinkles along her upper lip, as if she spends her spare time in a scowl.

“What have you done, Para?” The woman, her face severe, eyes all of us. “Your mission was quite clear.”

“I know, but there were—” She clears her throat. “Unforeseen complications.”

“You come back with dead and wounded warriors and call it ‘complications’?” Vanara swipes past her and stops in front of us. “The changeling, is she here?”

“Yes, we brought her.” Para, cowed, stands just behind her leader.

Vanara looks down her nose at first Beth, then Taylor. “The changeling must not be harmed. That’s part of the deal with the king beyond the mountain. I must inspect her straightaway.”

Taylor straightens. “Standing right here. I can hear you, you know?”

“Then hear this.” Her silver eyes narrow. “Delivering you to the king beyond the mountain is what must be done—what will be done—no matter what you say to the council.”

Her threats must be answered. I begin to draw my sword, but Gareth reaches over and stays my hand.

“Vanara, is it?” His tone is laced with contempt. “You aren’t going to inspect anything, and if you don’t back off, I can guarantee that Leander will take your head. Taylor is his mate. And I don’t know what sort of ramshackle hole in the ground you’re running here, but no one has afforded my king the respect befitting his station.”

My grip tightens on my blade, and I step forward. “Perhaps the Vundi prefer battle and blood to tradition and hospitality. In that case, I am happy to oblige them.”

Gareth doesn’t release my wrist. “Even the high fae of Byrn Varyndr treated us better than we’ve fared at your hands.”

Nothing fazed Vanara. Not a word. Until Gareth’s final gripe. Once hostilities on the plains were ended and the pact was sealed with magic, we should have been afforded some semblance of a welcome. Instead, they offer threats.

“The pretenders at Byrn Varyndr cannot rival the warmth of a Vundi hearth.” Vanara backs off and even dips her head a little. “My apologies, King Gladion.”

“Never speak to my mate again. Don’t even look at her.” I sheathe my blade.

Para clears her throat. “Your rooms should be ready. Please follow me.” Even her tone has softened. “This way.”

I keep Taylor at my back, hemmed in between Gareth and me, as we leave the waterfall chamber and enter an even larger one. A city slumbers here under the dark stone ceiling that soars away high above us. Thousands of homes are carved into the walls and along the floors as far as I can see. Several of them seem abandoned, but the ones nearest the ground level are occupied, light and voices humming along the rock. More buildings line the cave floor, some of them large enough to hold hundreds of fae—gathering places and possibly businesses. Stone bridges criss-cross the cavern and foot paths wind up each side. An entire civilization lies hidden beneath the red wastes.

“How many people live here?” Taylor stops and stares down from our bridge high above the stone buildings below. A handful of children, lesser and high fae, play amongst the ruin of a dwelling beneath us, their laughter high and ringing as they chase each other. But their clothes are shoddy, their bodies thin, and one of them has a cough that would concern any parent.

“We used to boast great numbers. After the conflict that ruined these lands, we rebuilt and thrived underground.” Para follows her gaze to the children. “But when the war with winter ended, not enough of us came home. What little farming we were able to do along the banks of the Misty River was pillaged by the high fae at Byrn Varyndr. Now, we have very little. We’re able to trade with the gems we mine, but we can’t support ourselves without turning to …” She chews her lip. “Other avenues.”

“You mean brigandry.” Gareth crosses his arms over his chest. “Vundi bandits.”

“We must survive however we can,” Para snaps and turns on her heel.

“Has anyone ever told you you really have a way with females?” Beth cuts in front of Gareth and keeps pace with Para.

We turn sharply to the right and enter another, smaller room, this one lined with fine, if worn, tapestries.

“These are your rooms.” Para leads us down a corridor and into a round room with a fire pit in the center, the smoke escaping through a chimney hewn into the rock above. Divans, pillows, and a dining table fill the space, and doorways lead deeper into the stone maze. “There are two bathing rooms and two bedrooms. Will this be sufficient?”

I have no doubt these are the finest apartments the Vundi possess, but my approval is contingent on my queen’s. “Taylor, are these to your liking?”

“It’s lovely. Thank you, Para.” Taylor feels the nearest pillow, its silky crimson fabric highlighting her small, fair hand.

Gareth strides down the first hallway, doing a sweep.

“I’ll have food brought in and return when the council is ready to speak with you. Until then, please make yourselves comfortable. Cenet will stand watch outside your chambers should you need anything.”

Beth plops down on a deep emerald divan. “I’d say this arrangement is better than being eaten alive by wind wights, right?”

“We went from enemies to honored guests.” Taylor shakes her head. “I don’t understand this place.”

“We’re still enemies.” I follow Gareth, checking every shadow and hallway. “Be on your guard.”