The trio returned to the surface and found their horses exactly where they had left them.

“Seraiah, you’re with me,” Kai said when she followed Kestrel to her horse.

Reluctantly, she joined him, wondering if she was in for a lecture about involving herself in the interrogation of Sterling’s kidnapper.

Kai was silent as he boosted her onto the horse and then swung on behind her. When he picked up the reins, she found herself caged in by his arms.

“We’ll be going fast,” he said, as though that explained anything.

More likely he was scared she might stab him in the back. Kestrel hadn’t asked for her knife to be returned, so Seraiah had tucked it away.

The horse shifted suddenly beneath her, and Seraiah grabbed for its mane in a panic.

“Don’t worry. I got you,” Kai said, one hand going to her hip to steady her while the other holding the reins patted the horse’s neck. “It’s all right.”

She had no idea if he was trying to soothe the horse or her, and she wasn’t about to embarrass herself by asking.

Kai released her and rested his hand on his leg, giving her a glimpse of the scrape along his knuckles.

“What happened to your hand?” He’d ignored the question when she’d asked back in the tunnel.

“Got in a fight with a wall,” he said.

She snorted. “What really happened?”

“Exactly as I said. I was frustrated when I couldn’t open the portal and may have punched a wall. Not one of my finer moments.”

Seraiah couldn’t picture him losing his cool. Even when she’d annoyed him, he’d remained calm and detached. “You should clean it so it doesn’t get infected,” she said.

“It’s fine. It’ll be gone soon anyway.”

Before she could ask him what he meant by that, Kestrel called out. “Ready? I’ll follow you.”

“You’ll want to hold on,” Kai warned. Then he nudged the horse into a run.

Their speed was breakneck.

“How far are we from the portal?” Seraiah had to shout to be heard over the wind as they raced away from the prison.

“A day, maybe,” Kai said close to her ear, sending tingles down her spine. “If we ride through the night, we might reach it by mid-morning.”

The thought of another sleepless night was not appealing, but there wasn’t any other choice. They needed to cross over before the mages found them here, and perhaps if they were fast enough, they might catch Sterling on the other side.

Seraiah kept this thought to herself. She knew it was likely hopeless that they would catch up to Sterling now, but she didn’t want Kai to confirm it. Hope was the only thing keeping her going at this point.

Well, hope and fear.

They’d lost several hours of daylight while they were underground, and it was now nearing dusk. Her stomach took that moment to grumble. When was the last time they’d eaten? Was it before she had the dream? Seraiah couldn’t remember. Either way, it felt like ages ago.

“We can stop briefly after dark, but not for long,” Kai said. She felt the vibration of his voice when he spoke and realized she’d been leaning back against him. She quickly sat upright, making a conscious effort to put space between them so he wouldn’t feel any more of her stomach’s complaints.

By the time Kai deemed it safe to stop, Seraiah was starving and grumpy. After watering the horses, the three sat down to a meal of dried meat and stale bread. They were almost finished eating when Seraiah caught a flicker of light on the horizon behind them.

She squinted, but couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“Campfire,” Kai said, answering her unvoiced question.

“You think it’s them?” By them she meant the mages.

“Has to be. We’ll have to hope they’re stopping for the night, and we can get ahead.”

After they finished eating, they hurried back to the horses and rode through the night with no further sightings of their tail.

When they stopped again for a morning meal and for Seraiah to switch back to Kai’s horse, the horizon was clear.

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It didn’t stay that way for long.

Kestrel was the first to spot them, and as the sun rose, it lit up their dust cloud. It appeared the mages hadn’t stopped for the night as Kai had hoped, unless this was a different group.

Urging their horses faster than Seraiah thought possible, they raced over the rocky ground. For a moment, she wondered how it was that their horses didn’t trip.

Better to not think about it, she decided, lest she accidentally jinx them.

By Kai’s earlier estimates, they should be getting close to the portal now. They just needed to hang on for a little longer.

Seraiah heard Kai utter a low curse behind her, and when she looked back, she immediately saw the problem.

The mages were gaining on them.

It didn’t seem like it was possible with the way their horses were flying over the ground, but there was no doubt about it. The mages were closer, eating up the space between them.

Kai leaned in close. “Do you see that large boulder up ahead?” He didn’t need to point for her to know which he was referring to. It looked more like a small mountain than a boulder. “When we are parallel to it, I’m going to slow the horse, and I want you to jump.”

Seraiah’s breath caught in her throat. Did she hear that right? Had he just told her to jump off a moving horse?

“Did you hear me?” he asked when she didn’t respond.

She nodded.

“It will be fine,” he reassured her. “Tuck into a ball and roll.”

He made it sound like it was easy and normal to be jumping off a horse.

“Kestrel will see you and follow. Then I will take Kestrel’s horse and draw them off while the two of you continue on foot. I’ll meet you on the other side of the portal. Do not wait for me.”

He sounded fairly certain that Kestrel would be willing to jump from her own horse, but Seraiah was still skeptical. She didn’t have long to contemplate it, though.

“Get ready. It’s coming up fast.” He leaned back and shifted the reins to one hand to give her room.

The boulder loomed up ahead.

You can do this, Seraiah told herself. It will be perfectly fine. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves.

It didn’t work.

She couldn’t do this.

Panic set in. There was no way she was jumping off this horse.

“Now,” Kai roared as they came up on the boulder.

Seraiah swore Kai hadn’t slowed down at all. That liar.

Quickly, she pushed herself off and away from the horse’s sharp hooves. She did her best to tuck herself into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut tight, bracing herself for impact.

It was over in a matter of seconds.

She let herself lay there in a heap, trying to catch her breath when the sound of another body hitting the ground reached her. A moment later, Kestrel appeared in her vision.

“Move! We have to get out of sight or whatever hare-brained idea Kai has cooked up isn’t going to work.”

Kestrel yanked Seraiah to her feet and pulled her around the other side of the boulder. They crouched there, waiting for the sound of the other riders to pass by.

Carefully, Seraiah felt the side of her ribs. They were tender to the touch where she’d hit a rock. Kestrel, her saddlebag slung over one shoulder, was a little dusty but didn’t seem any worse for the wear.

As the sound of hoofbeats grew louder, Seraiah held her breath. She hoped they hadn’t seen her and Kestrel jump and would continue to follow Kai.

The hoof beats slowed and then stopped not a few feet from where they were hidden.

Seraiah looked to Kestrel, and Kestrel held a finger to her lips. The sound of voices drifted to them.

“It looked like at least one of the horses lost its rider,” one man said. “One minute they were there, and the next gone.”

“Has to be a trick of the light,” someone else responded. “Do you see anyone around here? They wouldn’t have jumped off. Could be one of them has that ability to bend light and cloaked them.”

“I don’t know. Why wouldn’t they have been cloaking themselves this whole time, then?”

“Magic doesn’t last forever, you dim-wit. You should know that. Come on. We’re wasting time here while they’re getting farther away.”

After a few tense moments, the sound of the horses moved off. When Kestrel determined they were far enough away, she stood, brushing the dust from her clothes. “Did Kai happen to tell you anything about his plan before he kicked you off his horse?”

Seraiah squinted up at her and repeated what little Kai had told her.

“Typical,” Kestrel murmured when she finished. “He better get back here before we get to Nyrene because I don’t know how he thinks I am going to explain a missing prince and a human girl,” she grumbled. “Come on.” She strode off in the direction they’d been traveling. “Portal is this way, but it’ll take us a few hours on foot. Best get moving before anyone else comes along.”

Seraiah didn’t move. “Were those men right about being able to bend the light? Is that possible?”

“Sure,” Kestrel said, turning back to look at her. “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never met anyone who could do it. It’s a rare ability, even more so than yours. Now, come on.”

Seraiah climbed to her feet, trying not to jar her bruised ribs, and followed Kestrel. Her entire body was slowly starting to ache. Kestrel continued to grumble to herself as she walked, and Seraiah swore she heard Kai’s name and stupid mentioned a few times. There might also have been something about strangling him.

It didn’t take long for them to become drenched in sweat as the sun rose higher in the sky, beating down on their heads.

“Please, tell me we are almost there,” Seraiah panted as she fanned herself in the shade of one of the many boulders scattered around.

Kestrel shrugged, wiping a rivulet of sweat from her temple. “Should be close,” she said, taking a swig of water from her water bag before passing it to Seraiah.

“You said that the last time I asked,” Seraiah accused her before taking a sip of the warm water.

“And the time before that. Eventually, I figure you’ll stop asking.”

Seraiah glared and took another sip before passing the bag back. She couldn’t help but notice how light it was starting to feel.

They stepped back into the blazing sun and continued on.

After a few minutes, Kestrel abruptly stopped in the middle of a large open area. “Here we are,” she declared.

Seraiah shaded her eyes and looked around. She didn’t see anything different about this place. In fact, it seemed suspiciously familiar, and if she didn’t know any better, she would say they’d been walking in circles. “What now? Do we just walk through, and we will magically be there?”

“Something like that,” Kestrel answered. She had tilted her head sideways and appeared to be listening to something Seraiah couldn’t hear. Her eyes took on an unfocused look. Slowly, her lips curved up into a smile, and she held out her hand.

Seraiah took it uncertainly. “Is there anything special I need to do?”

Kestrel refocused on her. “Walk with me,” she said and led Seraiah forward.