The brown bear gave what appeared to be a casual bat of its paw, but the blow sent Sabine sprawling. Ethan shouted, running to her side. The bear roared, charging at the shaken wolf. Mason stood his ground between the bear and Sabine.

A blade whirled past Shay and me. The sharp steel of Connor’s sword sank into the bear’s side. It roared but didn’t falter. Connor swore. I threw myself at the bear’s hind legs, snapping at its hamstring, but I missed, crashing to the ground. Shay caught the bear’s left heel in his jaws. It kicked hard, shaking him loose, leaving Shay on the ground beside me.

The bear suddenly stumbled, its right front leg jerking out at an awkward angle. A silver rope stretched from the bear’s shoulder, pulling it off balance. It took me a minute to recognize Adne’s spiked chain whip. Silas had his arms around her waist. The two of them hauled on the whip, dragging the bear onto its side. It roared in pain, swatting at the whip’s length.

“Connor!” Adne’s knuckles were white as she clung to the other end of the whip, and Silas’s face was as pale as her bloodless hands.

Connor dove forward, his left arm pulled back. While the bear fixed its gaze on Adne and Silas, Connor punched the katara’s blade into the wound at its neck, driving the steel deep into the bear’s throat. The beast’s roar became a gurgle and it slumped into stillness.

Connor grunted as he pulled the blade from the bear’s throat, wiping it clean on the snow. “Some fight.”

“So much for alliances,” Ethan said. Sabine had shifted to human form. He helped her to her feet and was studying her face.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Not my first fight.”

“That bear hit you hard.” He touched her cheek.

“I can take it.”

He smiled. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

Shay’s nose pressed against my jaw. You okay?

Yeah. I shouldered into him as we stood up. Thanks for the help.

My pleasure. His green eyes sparkled with mischief. I’ve been looking for some bear-type payback for a while now.

I wagged my tail, sending my laughter into his mind.

“Time for the main feature.” Connor was standing beside us. He looked at Shay. “I think you’ll need your hands for this.”

Guess the fun’s over. Shay licked my jaw and I laughed again.

Fun?

Of course. You didn’t have fun?

He was still watching me when he shifted into human form. I rested my chin against his palm, licking his fingers. Fighting with Shay at my side was more than fun. It was everything.

SEVEN

“SO THIS IS TORDIS,” Shay murmured as if we’d entered a holy place.

Haldis had always been imposing. Its maw-like opening acted as a warning, never inviting exploration. Tordis couldn’t have been more different. The claustrophobia-inducing, dark passageway into the mountain kept a secret carved into the silver-blue glacial wall before us. A secret that might have been the most exquisite place I’d ever seen. The ice-filled cavern wasn’t just beautiful, it was breathtaking. Each frost-covered surface captured light, reflecting it back into the space. The tunnel was bright, covered by a glimmering net of sunbeams, delicate as lace but far more captivating to the eye. The dancing web of light was broken only by a small, dark opening on the far side of the cavern.

Shay pointed at the crawl space. “Looks like that’s where we’re headed.”

“How do you know?” Ethan asked.

“Haldis was in an antechamber off the main cavern,” Shay said. “I’m guessing Tordis is the same.”

“Fair enough,” Connor said, despite Ethan’s deepening frown. “Let’s go.”

I lifted my muzzle, opening my jaws to let the frigid air slide over my tongue. Nothing. No alarming scents. No off-putting tastes that might alert me to danger.

Shay was watching me. “Any sign of mutant spiders, Cal?”

I barked and wagged my tail.

He frowned. “Really? Are you sure?”

It does seem awfully appealing for a Keeper lair. Sabine’s voice carried an edge.

I know. I glanced at her, then back at the cave. But I can’t pick up anything.

So what now? Mason asked, pawing at the ice.

We keep going. I trotted forward.

“I don’t like it,” I heard Ethan grumbling. “Something’s in here. It has to be.”

“Yeah . . .” Connor drew a long breath. “But if there’s no creature feature waiting . . .”

I twisted my neck around, impatient with their hesitation. I wanted to get Tordis and get the hell out of here. If the Keepers hadn’t left something hideous to guard this place, it was my best guess that our arrival had triggered some sort of alarm and soon this place would be swarming with nasties. Just like when we’d rescued my packmates from the dungeon below Eden. But in Tordis, I couldn’t see or smell anything that signaled we weren’t alone. Other than the bear, I hadn’t spotted any sentinels or stone gargoyles hidden in the clefts of rock, waiting to alert their masters to our intrusion upon the sacred site. Even so, I didn’t want to linger here—the best strategy was for Shay to grab the piece of the Elemental Cross that was hidden here and for us to get back to the Academy as quickly as possible.

I was about to growl at my lagging companions when Connor’s eyes, which had been flicking around the tunnel, suddenly went wide.

“Calla, stop!”

My growl became a whimper as his warning came a second too late. My front right paw came down and met—nothing. There was no longer an ice-covered floor beneath me. Gravity and my own forward momentum propelled me into the empty space. A hole that I still couldn’t see, even as I was falling into it.

Even my hind legs desperately scrabbling against the ice proved useless. My body tumbled over the invisible ledge.

I howled, but my cry of terror became a squeal when pain jolted through my limbs, traveling from my tail and rocketing up my spine. I hung in the air, kicking and snarling.

“Damn it, girl!” Ethan shouted. “Hold still.”

It finally registered that I wasn’t falling. The pain had resulted from Ethan catching me . . . by the tail.

My heart was pounding, my pulse deafening as it roared through my veins. Even as Ethan pulled me back up, each moment agony when he tugged on fur and tendons, I still couldn’t see where the floor had ended and the hole began.