"Grab her!"

The sound of Corbin’s voice echoed in Kaye's ears as one of the men caught her ankle and pulled her to the ground. His knee crushed into her back as he pulled her arms behind her. Before she fell, she saw Bryant—the confusion on his face as he looked for her—and then he swooped down and scooped Kindra away from the fire before she was burned to death. Part of Kaye thanked Aleda that he saved her sister, and the other part was cold as ice that he saved her instead.

A third part yelled out "No!" as Pike stabbed his brother in the back.

She saw the strange, jerking movement as Gar's leg went out and he fell to the ground, and she knew a wound like that would never fully heal.

As the warriors around her released their weapons in surrender to the Obsidians, Kaye's heart fell. Celeste was right; if Kaye had trusted Aleda last autumn none of this would have happened.

*****

It wasn’t until Bryant got Kindra to the woods and lay her down that he realized he had the wrong sister. When he saw her face—so much like Kaye’s, but half of it red and beginning to blister—a feeling of dread crept up. If he had Kindra, then Kaye was somewhere in Fie Eoin. She could be dead.

“Wake up. Wake up!” He shook the unconscious warrior, praying to the Mother that she would wake and be ready to fight and get her sister back. When she opened her unburned eye, it was dilated and unfocused.

“Gar?”

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“Bryant. Listen,” he said, squeezing her shoulders, “you must help your sister.”

“Kaye’s gone,” she mumbled and closed her eyes. “Let me sleep.”

“No.” He shook her again. “You must save her.”

“You go.”

“I can’t—I don’t know how to fight!”

Kindra was already falling back into the dark void of unconsciousness. Even without training, Bryant knew that was a bad thing.

“Wake up! Your tribe needs help.”

Kindra opened her eyes again, although she was by no means alert. “What?”

“Your tribe is being attacked by the man you were marrying.” Bryant didn’t hear the noise of battle any longer. He was sure the Obsidians had overwhelmed the warriors of Fie Eoin.

Kindra tried sitting up, but collapsed back and touched her face. Her fingers came away covered with blood. Bryant had only seen the burned flesh when he realized he grabbed the wrong twin and hadn’t looked her over for injuries. He knelt and turned her head so he could see the cut on her temple.

It wasn’t so bad—mostly hidden in the hairline and not bleeding profusely. But her hair was singed and when he checked her arms the left was red and beginning to blister like her face. That was going to be painful when she became fully conscious.

Other than that, she had only scars—so many scars—and Bryant knew that the burns and cut wouldn’t stop her from fighting. Her concussion would. Kindra kept floating in and out of consciousness, mumbling about her sister and wings and horses. She would get no help from Fie Eoin—he would have to take her to Celeste. They could make it by nightfall if they hurried.

“Kindra?” He steadied her head until she looked at him, open eye trying to focus. “I’m going to take you to the Faye land, do you understand?”

Her eyes widened in fear. “No! No, I’m not dead yet! I don’t want to die!” She tried to get up, but he held her down.

“You’re not going to die. I’m taking you to the Faye, to be healed. You aren’t dying.”

She continued to fight against him, though she was losing strength quickly.

“Stop.” Bryant pinned her wrists to the ground and sat on her legs so she couldn’t kick him. Even inured she was strong, but it didn’t take long for her strength to run out and her eye to roll back into her head as she passed out. Taking advantage of the lull, he stopped the bleeding at her temple and picked her up. She was heavier than Kaye, but not by much, and he was used to hauling things up to the cliff at home. Shifting her weight to make her easier to carry, he set off at a meager pace toward the pass in the mountain.