Cora hadn’t realized how badly she had hoped someone would find her until she gave up. The realization that she would never return to Phaedra felt like the cold that seeped through her skin with the winter wind, chilling her to the bone.

When her tears dried up, numbness replaced the feeling of loss. No one was coming to get her. They had probably forgotten anyway.

She fell into her old rhythm quickly, stealing what she needed and keeping to herself. The shoes she found did little to protect her feet from cold as she walked the city streets, and the coat she wore was not much better.

When she did leave the shelter of her hiding place, she found herself watching the city gates. She had never given them a second thought before. Every day, people came and went and she had never cared to try and figure out where they were coming from or where they went.

The gate opened at sunrise and closed at sunset. With no guards posted there, it would be easy to slip out and follow the road away from the city. Not knowing what was out there had always kept her in. Now, it appealed to her more than anything else.

The sky was gray with heavy snow clouds looming over the city as Cora left her hiding place for the last time. She adjusted the over sized coat on her shoulders and headed for the main street. A fresh layer of snow crunched underfoot with each step, soaking the shoes she wore.

She merged with the moving crowd in the main street and made her way past the market stands, picking pieces of food from them as she went. After the third stand, she ducked down a side street.

As she rounded the corner she stopped short, her plan to put time and space between herself and the stands she had picked from forgotten. Two figures stood at the end of the short street.

Even when awake, her dreams haunted her. She backed up, her heart suddenly pounding.

One of the figures took a step toward her, calling her name in a voice that was painfully familiar.

She shook her head, denying the hope that tried to spring into her chest. Then she turned and ran, dodging people as she raced through the crowd. Behind her, the call came again.

She shook her head, blinking away the tears that had sprung, unbidden, into her eyes. That was a mistake.

She slammed into someone, hard enough to knock her to the ground.

“Hey!” an angry voice shouted as the man she had hit stumbled forward and then turned to glare at her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Cora scrambled to get up, only to find a hand on her arm.

“Sorry, sir. It was an accident.” Seth’s voice cut into her reality. “It won’t happen again.”

The man grunted. “See that it doesn’t.” He watched, scowling, as Seth quickly pulled Cora around the nearest stand, to the alley outside the main street.

When they were out of sight, she tore her arm free. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.

“We came to bring you home,” he explained as if he hadn’t just chased her down the main street. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I was starting to worry that my family got to you.”

She held her glare and gritted her teeth. I should have left days ago… “Maybe I don’t want to be found.”

A twinge of hurt showed itself in his eyes. “That’s not true.” He looked hard at her face. “What happened to you?”

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

She looked away. “Nothing. Everyone is better off this way. Just go home.” The words stung as they came out.

“Not without you,” he argued.

She opened her mouth, then shut it. A lump was forming in her throat, making it dangerous to trust her voice. Instead, she turned to run again. She couldn’t go back, no matter how badly she wanted to.

They had threatened her with shadow-walkers if she ever tried to return.

No matter how badly she wanted to believe Seth, to go with him back to Phaedra, she couldn’t let herself give in to the hope that would only result in more pain.

Before she could make it four paces, she was stopped again. This time, a hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her off track. She whirled around and nearly fell. When another hand took her other arm, steadying her, she glanced up.

“Cora,” Idris said, holding her gaze.

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, turning away. If she resisted long enough, maybe they would give up and leave her alone. Pain lanced through her chest with the thought.

His hands kept her in place.

“We’ve been looking for you,” Seth’s voice repeated from behind her.

She shook her head. “You can’t.”

“What do you mean, we can’t?” Seth asked.

“I can’t,” she corrected through gritted teeth. Grasping onto any bit of control she held over her emotions, she fought against the hope that threatened to break the dam that held it all back.

“Can’t what?” Idris asked, his voice slow and clear.

She opened her mouth and took in a shuddering breath. No words came out. She was losing the battle.

Idris let go of her and before she could think to run, wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. “Breathe,” he said quietly.

The dam broke, flooding her with everything she had shoved away.

“We came to bring you home,” Seth repeated. She heard his feet shuffling closer in the snow.

“I can’t,” she mumbled through tears.

“Why not?” Seth asked.

“I knew as soon as you disappeared. I searched the market for you and when I couldn’t find you, I got Seth and we came to look here.” Idris spoke quietly. “I have never been so worried about someone in all my life.”

A shudder rocked her.

“Come home, Cora.” The voice whispering in her ear felt irresistible.

Home… When had these two become so important? Her whole life had been spent fending for herself and she had always avoided relationships. No one had ever gone out of their way to do anything for her until now. Seth and Idris had searched Phaedra and then come here just to find her. She took in a deep shaking breath and nodded.

As soon as Idris let go of her, Seth jumped in, throwing his arms around her in a tight hug. “I’m so glad we found you,” he said, letting her go.

She walked beside Idris, his arm around her, as they made their way through the city. Seth led the way out of the city through the gate she had planned on using to leave by herself. It was not long before they were back on the narrow path between trees. The snow lay thicker in the untraveled space between city and woods.

By the time they entered the cave that held the portal, her feet were numb and she couldn’t stop the shaking that had begun. Her stomach twisted and growled and she pulled the coat tighter around herself.

Seth turned to her, a grin on his face. “Are you ready?”

Cora started to nod, then froze. “Wait.” The woman’s threat stopped her in her tracks. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Idris asked.

“Because…” She looked around and took a step back toward the entrance to the cave, half expecting a shadow-walker to drift out of the trees toward them. “They — she —” She struggled to get the words out around the fear that had her in a choke hold. “If I go back, they’re going to feed me to the Shadow-Walkers…” The words came out in a whisper and ended in an involuntary shudder. She was not sure which would be worse, freezing to death in the snow, or being eaten by monsters.

“Who?” Idris asked, his tone short and hard.

Seth narrowed his eyes in an expression that looked out of place for him.

“I don’t know,” she answered, shaking her head and avoiding their eyes.

“That is not going to happen.” Idris stepped toward her and took her by the shoulders. “Look at me, Cora.”

She gave eye contact a half-hearted attempt. When she managed, she saw anger in his eyes.

“Nobody will come near you as long as I am around,” he said.

She wanted so badly to believe his words, but fear was an emotion she had never quite been able to overcome. “What if you’re not around?”

Idris held her gaze with a serious expression. “I made a careless mistake leaving you alone in the market. For that I am sorry. I will not make that mistake again.”

“If he’s not,” Seth added, crossing his arms, “Then I will be. Or Matt, or Maya.” Then he added, “nobody crosses Maya.”

Cora gritted her teeth. The cold was making it harder to think. She struggled to process their words. Her stomach twisted. The desert heat would be a relief from the cold that choked her now.

They crossed the cave quickly and she watched in silence as Seth walked along the back wall until he found the portal.

For the second time, she followed him through into Phaedra.