She looked back, stopped and I saw annoyance flash through her features before she rearranged them and said yet again, “Really, it’s not too far.”

Did Cora, the Gracious who was beloved across an entire country and visited children’s hospitals (and homeless pet shelters, not to mention read to the blind) get annoyed?

I stared at her pretty face with all that fabulous, lustrous brown hair.

And as I did, it hit me.

And what hit me was that I hadn’t been only an idiot.

I’d f**ked up.

And huge.

Cora, the Gracious probably found occasion to be annoyed (especially if her husband was an other-worldly macho man like Apollo).

But Cora’s twin, the one from this world, the one who’d disappeared after being kidnapped by Minerva and her crew, would totally get annoyed. From what Apollo told me, she was a screaming bitch.

This had to be her.

It had to.

Cora wouldn’t lead me to danger. She wouldn’t even suggest it.

Okay, I didn’t know that for certain.

But if it were me, I wouldn’t lead Cora to danger. Nothing even near it. Not in times like these.

Not ever!

God!

I’d totally f**ked up!

I started backing away.

“Uh, how about you go on to Prince Noctorno and I’ll go back to the house. When I find someone, I’ll tell them to tell Apollo to follow our tracks to you,” I suggested.

More annoyance sliced through her expression before she looked side-to-side in a weird way I did not like then began following me, her hand raised cajolingly my way.

“It’s much further back than forward.”

“I’m cool with that,” I told her, moving more quickly.

She moved more quickly too, saying, “I fear for your safety, walking alone back to Karsvall.”

“It’s okay,” I replied. “There are enchantments that’ll keep me safe.”

Again, she eyed side-to-side.

I kept backing up and eyed side-to-side too.

I also hoped like hell Apollo (or someone) found Chris and that they were now searching for me.

I’d take the verbal lashing Apollo was going to give me after he discovered I’d been a complete idiot, and I’d take it since it was deserved.

I just wanted to get back.

I didn’t notice anything side-to-side but when I looked down to ascertain that I was following the same tracks as I’d made coming out not only so I could get home but so that anyone possibly looking for me would actually find me, I stopped dead.

There were no tracks.

I whipped my head around and looked behind me.

There were no tracks there either.

Uh-oh.

I looked back to my feet and took another step.

The instant my foot hit the snow, the snow reassembled where my print had been so there was no print at all.

Uh-oh.

One could say we’d definitely come out of the enchanted safety zone because that couldn’t happen.

Except by magic.

Crap!

My head snapped up and my blood turned to ice when I saw Cora standing with her arms crossed in front of her, gloved hands up high, resting under her shoulders.

And she was smiling a very bitchy smile.

Shit!

At this point, three things happened at once.

The first was that I turned to run.

The second was that two men came barreling out from behind the trees, and the sight of them scared the complete beejeezus out of me.

This was because they were not like any men I’d ever seen in my life.

They were huge.

And when I say huge, I mean huge.

They had long black hair (one in a plait down his back, the other’s was only pulled back at the top).

They were also wearing hides. All hides. Hide boots. Hide pants. Hide shirts laced up to their throats with thick hide threads, and hide jackets that had long lapels that looked to be made of some short fur, like a cow’s.

Oh, and they were carrying massive swords.

Massive.

Their swords had to be at least a foot longer than Apollo’s and they were way heftier. Even at a glance, I figured they had to weigh double what Apollo’s weighed and his was freaking heavy.

They were also running.

Toward me.

And the last thing that happened was an enormous flock of birds suddenly appeared in the sky. They were not pretty birds. They were ugly birds. And they were freaking scary birds that had webbed wings that made a sickening sound when they flapped.

And there so many of them, they blotted out the sun.

Yes.

Blotted. Out. The sun.

They were swooping in, also toward me.

I didn’t scream (though I wanted to).

I didn’t freeze.

I didn’t stumble.

No.

I ran.

I heard the men running after me so I did my best to run faster, knowing that with their long legs, they’d totally catch up.

But I wasn’t going to give up.

Sure, if I made it to Karsvall, Apollo was going to be pissed.

But I’d take that over whatever those birds (and men) could do to me any day.

Within seconds, I felt the men were almost on me and the instant I did, I heard a grunt of effort.

The next instant, almighty shrieks filled the air and a shower of blue sparks—sparks I’d seen before in a not so happy time—rained over me.

Not that I needed verification those birds were bad magic, still, those sparks gave it anyway.

When they bounced off my skin and hair, I stumbled but did not fall. I kept running doubled over, my hands in front of me to break me should I fall as I desperately tried to keep standing and most of all, moving.

I didn’t fall because I got control but I also didn’t fall because a strong arm wrapped around my stomach and hauled me up. It held me to a big body as that body kept running before, still running, he put me back in the snow, forcing me to run with him running close to my back.

And over my head, he grunted nonsensically, “Veeyoo maya.” Then he said, “Go,” and finished on a roar, “Fast!”

I went and fast and I did it feeling slightly better (slightly) because I had a feeling, seeing as I was still running and not thrown to the snow or being carried away, that these were the good guys.

Guys from my side.

He kept at my back and I had no clue how we both ran so close together but we did.

The one at my back had my back, literally.

The other one I knew was fighting those birds. I heard his grunts of efforts. I saw the flashes of blue sparks.

But there were tons of those birds. The sinister sound of their webby wings flapping filled the air all around. I could hear the shrieks as each arc of the guy’s sword took out not one, not two, but what sounded like dozens.