Chapter 3
The howl of the wind made Inej want to scream in protest, and she would have, except her jaw was locked from clenching her teeth to stop them from chattering.
Her jacket was so thin, it was almost like not having anything covering her at all, but a layer, no matter how threadbare, was better than nothing.
She tripped over one of the thousands of rocks hidden beneath the inches of snow, and because she had her arms wrapped around herself for warmth and wasn’t able to get a hand out quickly enough to catch herself, she twisted as she fell and hissed in pain the moment the snow met her cheek.
She did her best not to touch it with her bare hands as she climbed to her feet.
Her thoughts drifted to the conversation that had changed her life.
“Where is the blonde who is always smiling?”
Inej stopped dusting at the sound of the Moon Elf’s voice directly behind her.
She slowly turned to face the beautiful female.
Gita never had a single strand of blue hair out of place.
Her eyes, an icy blue that could cut right through someone, never missed anything. And right now, they were locked on her.
“I don’t know,” Inej answered.
One dark blue brow arched before the elf’s eyes narrowed. “You think she was taken.”
Taken. It made it sound as if Krata had been whisked away for a lavish holiday instead of snatched from the streets or even her bed. Of course, an elf would put a spin on it since their kind were only just now being abducted.
“I fear she has been.” Inej kept her voice even, refusing to allow the tremor of fear to be heard.
Gita smoothed a hand down her gown, the cerulean color making her fair, silvery skin appear luminescent. “That is all anyone can talk about. Some of my acquaintances have also gone missing. It’s dreadful.”
Inej shouldn’t be happy that the elves were also being kidnapped, but now that they were, perhaps something would be done. “Does anyone know who is doing this?”
“There are suspicions,” Gita said as she turned and walked regally to the sofa. She sat and leaned against the arm, tucking her legs against her. “But these people are dangerous.”
Inej knew she should get back to work, but she had to know more. Gita rarely spoke to them, and if there was a chance she could get something out of the elf, then she was going to do just that. “Are the elves going to do anything?”
Gita visibly winced. “That’s where things get problematic.”
“What do you mean?”
“The group is in the Dangerous Peaks.”
Inej looked out the window. The tower was one of the tallest in the city, allowing her to see over the towering trees of the rainwood to the distant mountain.
Few ventured there. The icy slopes were home to the Mountain Elves, a solitary race that rarely left their villages.
Most went their entire lives without seeing a Mountain Elf.
“It’s an inhospitable place,” Gita continued. “Especially to my elves.”
Inej frowned as she slid her gaze back to her. “Why?”
“There is a sickness that takes us. It strikes without warning and kills just as quickly.”
“In other words, it keeps you out. Doesn’t it affect the Mountain Elves?”
Gita reached for a teacup and gracefully lifted it to her lips. “They become immune to it as babies. But for elves who don’t live there…”
She trailed off, letting Inej finish the thought. “Surely, someone can do something.”
Gita’s lips parted, her face glowing with excitement, before she hastily looked away and took another drink.
“What? What is it?” Inej pressed.
“I don’t want to get you involved. It’s too risky.”
Inej took a step closer, tightening her hand on the dusting cloth. “You have a plan,” she guessed.
“I never should have said anything.”
“Please,” Inej begged. “I need to know. I believe my friend was abducted. I want…nay, I need to do something.”
Gita’s pale blue eyes met hers and studied her for a long moment. “I don’t know,” she said hesitantly.
“I can help. Let me help,” Inej implored.
The elf tapped her lip thoughtfully. “You’re human, so you wouldn’t be affected by the virus.”
“Exactly.” Inej tried to contain her excitement. She knew in her gut that this was what she was supposed to do. Now, she just had to convince her employer. “I’m a quick study, and I’m adaptable. I can be whatever you need.”
Gita looked her over slowly as if taking her measure. “You just might be what we need.”
Inej stumbled again, returning to the present.
She caught herself and tucked her fingers under her armpits.
She should’ve insisted that Gita give her proper clothing to endure the unstable weather of the Dangerous Peaks, but she had been too eager to strike back at those who had taken Krata.
She had been so blinded by her anger and thirst for vengeance that she could quite possibly be walking to her own death.
She would laugh, but the effort would take more energy than she dared expend.
The problem was, she didn’t know how to quit.
So, she kept walking. She hadn’t dared to stop, even for the night, because she knew that if she lay down to rest, she wouldn’t get up.
It had never entered her mind that she would lose the sun behind the ever-present, ash gray clouds, or that she would barely be able to lift her face against the violent gusts of wind.
She tried to keep walking in a straight line, but that was impossible when crossing areas where rocks, cliffs, and water caused her to constantly alter her path.
She only had a bit of bread left, and only because it had been so frozen she hadn’t been able to eat it earlier.
At least water was still available—not that she wanted to drink something cold.
Maybe she was going crazy. Between the cold and seeing nothing but white, it wouldn’t surprise her if she was losing her grip on reality.
“Maybe I never had a grasp on reality,” she mumbled.
That made her chuckle and then frown. She was dying, and there was nothing she could do. She was too far from the rainwood to make it back, and likely too far from the mountain city to find her target.
One foot forward. Then the other. Another and another step. Inej didn’t know when she had stopped feeling her toes. When she tried to rub her leaking nose against her shoulder, the pain it caused made her eyes water. And her fingers weren’t faring any better.
She had never known these kinds of bitter temperatures. The winters in the city couldn’t prepare anyone for this level of agony. Even if she had layers of clothing, she would still be cold. Maybe Mountain Elves didn’t exist. Because how could anyone survive in this climate?
When Inej next dared to look up, she saw she had reached the opposite slope.
She looked back at the valley behind her.
When had she crossed it? And when had the sleet stopped?
She shrugged and continued. The beginning of the incline was easy, leading her into a false reprieve.
Before she knew it, though, she was facing a wall of rock.
She looked up and grimaced. There was no way she could get up that.
She found an easier path to the left and altered her course.
Still, she had to use her hands to climb up.
She crested the summit just as sunlight came from behind the mountain.
Inej cupped her hands around her mouth and blew warm air into them, but she could barely feel it.
Whatever energy she had left was gone. She was too frozen to go even one more step.
Watching a sunrise from a mountaintop wasn’t a bad way to die.
She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun, seeking its warmth.
For a moment, the wind paused its incessant assault.
She dared to open her eyes and gasped at the sight before her: a land of white that sparkled when the light hit it.
Bits of dark green from the trees poked through the snow as if teasing her with color.
The gray clouds broke apart, revealing a clear sky so vivid a blue that she wasn’t sure the color had a name.
And all around her, the mountains rose like towering walls, separating the rainwood from…
she didn’t know what, but there had to be something past the Peaks.
Or maybe it was nothing but the end of the world.
The Peaks were a land someone could get lost in, a place you could disappear into.
Now, she understood why no one ever saw the Mountain Elves.
Why would anyone leave such a beautiful—albeit hostile and bitter—place?
She dropped to her knees and stayed in the moment, even as her mind screamed for her to get moving.
When the clouds returned, she fumbled in her bag for the map to see if she was heading in the right direction.
Inej gripped the paper as tightly as her numb digits allowed.
No sooner had she unfolded it and held it up than the wind snatched it from her hand.
She jumped up, stretching her arm out for it without thinking where she was.
Her foot met nothing but air. She windmilled her arms, searching for something, anything, to grab onto.
Then she was tumbling down the mountain.
The first two impacts of her body were against thick snow.
Still, it was hard enough to knock the wind from her.
But the third collision was her back near her left shoulder against a rock, making her cry out in pain.
The wind quickly swallowed the sound as she dropped straight down.
Her brain barely registered the plunge before she impacted the snow and continued to roll down the slope.