Kate snorted. “Much to my surprise. She came back once after the engagement, and she tried to promise me riches and glory. I told her that I didn’t want any of it, and I asked her to let it go. Vengeance never brings people happiness or peace. I said, ‘What kind of life is it to be married to your nemesis?’

“Mina looked at me, with her eyes cold and hard, and she said, ‘It will be my finest achievement, and I pity you that you’ll never understand that.’” Kate grimaced. “And that was the last thing she’s ever said to me.”

“Did you know Evert was murdered last week?” I asked.

Kate lowered her eyes. “No. I’m surprised it took this long, but I guess Mina’s plans are finally under way.”

“Do you have any idea what she might do next?” I asked.

“Not anything specific,” she said, looking at me with stormy gray eyes. “But honestly, I don’t think she’ll be happy until everything is suksraungiksuk.”

I shook my head and didn’t even attempt to repeat the word she’d used. “What’s that mean?”

“There’s not a literal translation in English,” Ulla explained. “But it means ‘destroyed’ or ‘finished.’ ”

“More like obliterated,” Kate said.

THIRTY

nanuq

I awoke just after the sun started to rise, which meant that it was only four in the morning. After sleeping fitfully all night with my usual nightmares, I was happy for the reprieve that being awake provided.

We’d left Kate’s hut not long after she’d confessed that Mina was her sister. Before we’d gone, I’d asked her why she’d been so open in telling us everything, and Kate had simply shrugged and said, “Why wouldn’t I? Mina’s never been much of a sister to me, and I have no reason to keep her secrets.”

Ulla had been very excited about everything we’d found out, even though she didn’t understand the implications of much of it. Growing up so isolated, she now fancied herself embroiled in plots of treason and espionage.

It had taken quite a bit of convincing for me to get her out of my room last night, telling her that I needed to get to bed early. But really, I just needed a chance to process it all for myself.

Once I did, everything Konstantin and Kate had said fit together perfectly, creating this portrait of a diabolical, unstoppable madwoman. Both Mina and Viktor had been incredibly patient, waiting years for their plan to come to fruition.

And now that it had, I was certain that Mina would do everything in her power to make sure that nothing got in her way. You don’t plan something for a decade and let it all fall apart at the end.

I needed to get back to Förening. I thought I finally would have evidence to convince Queen Wendy that the Trylle needed to depose Mina. Assuming, of course, that Wendy believed me, since Kate wasn’t about to leave Iskyla to testify.

I packed my bag and opened my room door to find Ulla on the landing just outside my room. She’d changed clothes from last night, and she was asleep, using her own bag as a pillow and her coat as a blanket.

When she heard the door open, she sat up with a start. “Finally. You’re up.”

“Finally?” I asked. “What are you doing?”

“I was waiting for you.” She stood up and stretched. “I’m coming with.”

“You can’t come with. You heard what I told you last night. It’s too dangerous.”

“I know, but I can help,” Ulla insisted. “And besides that, nobody wants me here. I have no reason to say.”

“You may not have a reason, but I do. I can’t afford to take you back with me. I have barely enough money to charter a plane and get back home myself,” I explained.

“I’ve got money. I’ve saved up every dime and nickel I’ve ever made.” Ulla reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a surprisingly thick wad of cash. “I can pay my own way, and help you out.”

I sighed. “How old are you?”

“Fourteen and a half.” She stood up straighter, as if that would make her seem older. She was already taller than me, with slightly broader shoulders, probably thanks to her Omte genes. “I’m mature and strong for my age, though. I can help you.”

I was about to tell her no, but the desperate, heartbroken look on her face finally made me cave. With everything that Ulla and Kate had told me about what it was like to grow up here, I didn’t think it would be good for anybody.

“Fine, but if you slow me down, I’m leaving you behind,” I said, which was more of an empty threat than I wanted to admit.

Ulla almost squealed with delight, but I silenced her and then walked past her and headed down the stairs. Taking her with didn’t seem that bad, since I was just headed back to the Trylle. Ulla should be safe with the Trylle, and they could help her find a place in this world.

It wasn’t until we’d taken the snowmobile to the nearest town that I realized that Ulla had never been outside of Iskyla before. She was amazed and entranced by every little thing, and I had to constantly remind her that we were traveling incognito and that she needed to stop making a scene.

Surprisingly, she handled the plane better than I did. Somehow the ride managed to be even more turbulent than it had been last time, and the pilot told me it was thanks to an incoming freak blizzard.

Our landing was twice as rough this time, but at least we made it alive. The pilot was right about the storm, though. A brutal wind was coming from the north, bringing with it heavy snow. Ulla suggested we get a hotel for the night and head out in the morning, but I suspected that she just wanted a chance to see more of the city.

I, on the other hand, didn’t want to waste any time. I had information that I needed to get to the Trylle as soon as possible. Everyone in Doldastam was depending on it, whether they knew it or not.

So, despite travel advisories telling me not to, I rented an SUV and headed south. For her part, Ulla actually didn’t seem to mind the storm or the slow going. I think she would’ve been thrilled by just about anything I did, though.

The first hour or so into the drive went okay. I barely went above thirty, but we were moving. And then we weren’t. We hit a snowdrift so large, the SUV just couldn’t get through it. We were stuck.

“Don’t worry. I got it,” Ulla said. She’d taken off her kamiks while I was driving, but now she slipped them back on, along with her heavy gloves.

“What do you mean, you got it?” I asked, but she was already opening the car door and hopping out into the snow. “Ulla!”

I wasn’t about to let her disappear into the snowstorm, so I jumped out after her. She’d gone around to the back of the SUV, and she’d put on what reminded me of old flight goggles. They were strapped on underneath the earflaps of her hat, and while they were comical-looking, they probably worked well at keeping the snow from stinging her eyes.

“What are you doing?” she asked me, like I was the one who had leapt out of the vehicle without explanation. “Is the SUV in neutral?”

“No. It’s in park. Why? What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna get us unstuck.” She flexed her arms.

It sounded ridiculous, but she did have Omte blood. She may not have been the size of the ogre Torun I’d seen in Fulaträsk, but she should have some of his strength.

“Be careful,” I told her, but I left her to it.

I got back in the vehicle and put it in neutral. I adjusted the rearview mirror so I could watch. Her head bent down as she pushed on the back, and the SUV jerked forward a bit.

Then nothing happened at all for a few seconds, and suddenly it lurched forward, going straight through the snowdrift. Snow flew up around the vehicle, and it skidded to a stop on a clearer stretch of highway on the other side of the drift.

As soon as the SUV stopped, I put it in park and jumped out to make sure Ulla hadn’t been hurt. After all, that had been an awfully big push.

“Ulla!” I shouted when I didn’t see her right away, and I charged through the drift.

She was standing in the middle of the road, staring off to the right of her, but she didn’t appear injured.

“Ulla,” I repeated. “That was amazing.”

“We should probably get out of here,” she said flatly.

“What? Why?” I asked, and I looked to see where she was staring.

There, a few feet off the road and almost invisible in the snow, were two small polar bear cubs. The bigger, fluffier one hung back, but for some reason the smaller one thought it would be a good idea to trot toward us—its big eyes wide and excited.

Growing up near the polar bear capital of the world in Doldastam, there was one important lesson I had learned—wherever there was a cub, nearby was an angry mama bear.

“Let’s go,” I commanded.

Ulla started hurrying toward the SUV past me. I turned to join her, but it was already too late. The mama bear had come out of nowhere. The giant white beast growled and stomped between me and the vehicle. I had nowhere to run, but that didn’t matter, because she wasn’t about to let me run anywhere.