Seraiah absently traced the stone set in the hilt of her dagger. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Sterling had said. It had been a week now, but the words still stuck with her.

The only thing it ever did was make you paranoid.

In a way, Sterling was right. There were several times she would have sworn she saw shadows in Sterling’s eyes, but then she blinked, and they were gone like they’d been a trick of the light. She couldn’t help being protective of Sterling when she’d once let down her guard and allowed her sister to be taken from her.

Seraiah couldn’t go through something like that again.

Wouldn’t.

But Sterling was right. Seraiah couldn’t force her sister to live like that. She needed to find a way to let go. After all, the nightmare had stopped. She hadn’t dreamed of Sterling since before they’d rescued her.

No, ever since the rescue, she’d been haunted by a different dream.

This one she knew was an actual nightmare and not a vision. It forced her to watch over and over as Lonan fell.

She’d known the grief would come for her, and it had. The pain of losing her friend ate away at her heart. It had dug its claws in bit by bit before guilt had arrived to sink its fanged teeth in as well. Seraiah didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget or forgive herself for what she had done. It was all her fault her friend’s life had been cut short.

The dreams taunted her with it, showing her how fast Lonan had been ripped away only to be brought back as a poor facsimile of himself by that awful necromancer to fall a second time.

Sterling jabbed her in the ribs, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“What was that for?” she asked, pushing Sterling’s hands away. It was her turn to share her horse, and Sterling rode behind her.

“I tried calling your name, but you ignored me. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re here.”

Seraiah blinked and looked around, realizing Kai and Kestrel had stopped their mounts a distance back. They’d arrived at their destination for the day.

Baromund appeared different than Seraiah remembered it. It felt like it had been years since she, Kai, and Kestrel had stopped in the city on their mad dash to find Sterling, and it looked as if it had been years too.

It was the beginning of the summer season, but you wouldn't have known that by looking at the city. Snow covered everything in a veil of white. The temperature had dropped the farther north they’d pushed, and Seraiah's heart had dropped along with it at the first sighting of snowfall.

With all that had happened, she’d forgotten about the vision she’d had while in Metrius—the vision of snow spreading and killing everything in its path. She’d hoped it hadn’t been real, but seeing the snow had been the first confirmation that it was. Now she dreaded what might be waiting for her in Ratha.

"Let's see if we can get rooms at an inn and get out of this cold," Kai said, blowing on his fingers to warm them. "And maybe we can buy some clothing more suited to this weather."

They’d all layered their extra clothing over what they already wore, but it wasn’t enough.

Seraiah's own fingers had lost feeling a while back. She hadn't realized how much she didn't miss the cold until she was thrust back into it.

“With what money?” Sterling asked. Since she’d agreed to return to Ratha, she’d been slowly getting to know Kai and Kestrel and training with them. Now she no longer relied on Seraiah to relay messages between them.

“We’ll work something out,” Kai said. “There must be something we can trade if necessary. Leave the talking to me.”

Seraiah touched her dagger again. It would be worth enough to keep them in comfort and outfit all of them with winter clothes, but she didn’t want to part with it. She’d rather scrub chamberpots and sleep in a stable.

Kai nudged his horse forward, and Kestrel and Seraiah fell in behind him, letting their mounts walk side-by-side as they passed into the city walls.

The first thing Seraiah noticed was the silence. There was no sound of people, only the wind howling between the buildings. Looking around, she didn't see a single person. It was a sharp contrast to her first visit. She studied the snow, looking for signs that anyone had walked through the street recently, but there were none. The snow was smooth and unbroken ahead of them.

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No footprints. No hoof prints. No wagon tracks. Nothing.

She had a bad feeling about this. One glance at Kestrel told her she had noticed too.

The city was abandoned.

Kai took them up the empty main street and stopped in front of the same inn they’d stayed at on their last visit. The sign for the hat shop next door hung halfway off its post, the wind causing it to creak eerily as it swung back and forth.

"Wait here," Kai told them as he dismounted from his horse.

Seraiah caught Kestrel rolling her eyes at his command, but she stayed put as Kai drew his sword and headed for the door. There was no stable boy to greet him this time as he disappeared through the open doorway.

A few moments later, he returned, having replaced his sword in its scabbard.

"Anything?" Kestrel asked.

He shook his head. "I’m not sure what to make of it. Come see for yourself."

Kestrel was the first one off her horse and through the door, while Seraiah and Sterling followed.

"Oh, gods," Kestrel breathed as she took in the room.

Oh gods was right, Seraiah thought as she stepped over the threshold. Snow crunched beneath her boots, having blown in through the open door, as she stepped further inside to let Sterling by.

It looked like the people had disappeared in the middle of whatever they were doing. There were plates of frozen food still on the tables, half-eaten, and mugs scattered around. Some had tipped over and rolled off onto the floor. Not a single person anywhere.

"Did you check the rooms upstairs?" Kestrel asked Kai as she surveyed the room.

"I did, and it's the same way. Personal belongings are still in the rooms that appeared to be occupied before whatever happened, but there’s no one here."

Sterling disappeared behind the counter where the innkeeper had greeted them once upon a time. Seraiah could recall the greedy glint in his eyes when he’d seen Kai sliding a silver coin across the counter. She still suspected he was the one who had sold them out to the mages. She touched her throat where one of them had cut her with his dagger. The wound was long healed, but she hadn’t forgotten the feeling.

Sterling rummaged around and pulled out a beat-up metal box, placing it on the counter. "Look what I found," she said with a grin.

Seraiah squinted at the box. "Is that—is that the coin box?"

Sterling popped the lid open and revealed that it was indeed the coin box, with all the money still inside. “Looks like it wasn’t the fever that got them. No looting, and someone would have taken this with them if they’d fled.”

"Fever?" Kestrel asked, eyeing the box.

“She means the blood fever,” Seraiah explained. “Like we had in Ratha. It might have explained why we didn’t see anyone.”

"No,” Kai said. “It wasn't a disease that took these people. We would have seen bodies if that were the case. This looks like they vanished."

"I agree,” Sterling said, “and this coin box proves it. Even if something terrible had happened, they would have at least taken the money with them. People always remember to grab the money. These people didn’t die or flee. Something took them.”

"You never know,” Seraiah said. “It could still be the fever. Would there be bodies if a necromancer reanimated them and moved them elsewhere?"

Sterling rolled her eyes. "You can't still be mad about that. Ren was trying to help us. He probably didn't mean to reanimate your friend."

“It was only a theory,” Seraiah said. “It seems more plausible than vanishing into thin air.”

Now that she had Sterling back, Seraiah was reminded of how much they used to fight. She swore Sterling would take the opposing side, if only to annoy her.

“I think we should push on to Ratha,” she added. “This place is unnerving. I don’t want to stay the night here.”

Kai sighed, abandoning his inspection of the frozen food. “Ordinarily I would agree, but we need supplies and, more importantly, we need warmer clothing. We’ll have to stay here long enough to at least find those things. Besides, don’t you want a break from sleeping on the frozen ground?”

Seraiah pursed her lips and didn’t say anything, kicking at a bit of snow on the floor.

“What is it?” Kestrel asked.

Seraiah glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“What’s the other reason you’re in a rush to reach Ratha?”

She looked away. “I’m not in a hurry,” she mumbled.

“I think she’s hiding something,” Sterling said. “I know that look. It’s the same look she would get when she had a dream she didn’t want to tell me about.”

Seraiah kept her eyes on the floor, cursing Sterling in her head.

"Is that true?" Kai asked. “Have you had a vision?”

“Not recently. This was weeks and weeks ago when I was in Metrius.”

She explained about seeing the snow creep across the field of daisies, burying everything in its path.

“And what else?” Sterling asked.

“I also saw Papa and Ariya. Since we’ve come across the snow, I’m afraid the rest of it might be true as well.”

“Was Papa . . .” Sterling trailed off, but Seraiah knew what she was asking.

“No, he wasn’t. I only saw him briefly at his stall. He looked old.”

“He is old,” Sterling said.

“I mean older. Like the stress of everything had worn on him.”

“What about Ariya?” Kai asked. “She was your friend we met at the castle, right?”

Seraiah nodded. “Ariya,” she swallowed, “Ariya had the blood fever when I saw her. She didn’t look like she had much longer.”

Sterling picked up a coin from the box and rolled it through her fingers, appearing to be done with the conversation.

"If you want to continue, we'll continue," Kai said, “but we’ll still need to look for supplies.”

Seraiah nodded. “Thank you.”

Sterling dropped the coin she was playing with back into the box with a clink. "Well, I found the money, so I’ll wait here while the rest of you get the other things." She closed the lid on the box and slid it off the counter, tucking it under her arm.

Seraiah gave her an incredulous look. "You're stealing that?"

"Do you see anyone here?" Sterling asked, gesturing around the empty room. "No one is going to miss it and who knows what we might find when we reach Ratha? A few extra coins might come in handy." Sterling started up the stairs. “Wake me when you’re ready to leave.”

Seraiah rolled her eyes and shook her head at her sister. Had Sterling always been this way, she wondered. She couldn’t remember.

Between the three of them, they gathered the supplies they needed in under an hour, leaving them a few hours of daylight left to travel. In five days or less, they would be riding into Ratha.

See you soon, Papa, Seraiah thought with one last look around the inn before stepping back into the snow.