And lacking any comrades.

  The slim, wiry redhead who’d appeared out of nowhere stood a few paces away. She grinned as if the two of them were on an adventure. “I’m—”

  Sydney drew her sword and lunged. “What have you done with Camille?”

  The redhead drew a short sword and parried. She didn’t lose her smile. “The librarian?”

  “Yes.” Sydney thrust twice more, but her strikes were easily blocked.

  “She’s with Rowena.”

  “Who the dash is Rowena?” She pushed, but the woman’s defense was like a brick wall. She hadn’t yet returned a strike and seemed to be having a fine old time. Heartfire flickered at Sydney’s core, but she kept it banked for now.

  “You call her the Hawk.”

  Sydney stumbled, and her anger tipped over into confusion. “The… What? How?”

  The woman blinked slowly. “Do you mean, why is she called the Hawk? I’m not sure. It might have to do with the birds that live on the mountain. Many are hawks, I think, though some are eagles. I’m not certain which is which as they won’t let me get close. I’ve been pecked before, and it’s a terrible pain because they don’t just bite or make a little hole with their beaks. They rip out a chunk of flesh.”

  Sydney gawked and tried to make sense of the flood of words. Why were they talking about birds? Her sword tipped toward the ground. “What?”

  The redhead rested her sword on her shoulder and looked skyward as if thinking. “Or it might be because she acts quickly, like a swooping bird that’s trying to rake with its talons, which isn’t fun either, or so I gather. I’ve seen them cut a husk down to the bone.” Her gaze fixed on Sydney again. “What’s your name? Rowena usually calls you ‘the knight,’ or more accurately, ‘the bloody, buggery knight,’ or sometimes just one or the other, but lots of things are bloody or buggery to Rowena.”

  Sydney glanced around again, wondering when her comrades would come out of hiding and tell her this was all a prank, and she wasn’t standing alone in the wilderness with a madwoman. “I’m…” She knew this one. “Sydney. Major Sydney Blakely.”

  “I’m Ember. You won’t have heard of me because Rowena never mentions me to the people she talks to in her crystal balls, but I live in the mountain with Rowena, and you’re probably wondering why I’m here. It’s because I was bored, and I wanted an adventure, but I didn’t want Rowena to be alone, so I decided she needed some company, and it was either going to be you or the librarian, but I thought she might kill you, so when I knew there was a witchstone involved, and the spell was going wrong, I took Rowena’s place and gave the witchstone to the librarian, and here I am.” She took a breath. A good thing, too, as her brown skin had begun to pale, and she’d started to list to the side, no doubt from a lack of oxygen.

  Sydney felt as if she’d stumbled into a land where nothing made sense. Maybe the spell had scrambled her brain. “The spell…” she muttered. When she’d been standing with the knights, the air around them had grown hazy, and she knew they were being transported. Then Sir Robert had thrown a rock at her, and the rest of the knights had howled in pain. She replayed Ember’s words, those she’d managed to catch. “A witchstone?”

  Ember huffed. “Can we talk while we walk because I’ve never been out of the mountain before, and I want to look at everything.”

  Sydney glanced around again. She didn’t see any “everything” to look at. Ember began a sidle away, beckoning for Sydney to follow. Maybe her onslaught of words was designed to confuse her enemies and make them easier to kill, but she could have attacked Sydney a hundred times by now.

  “Where are we?” Sydney shouted, anger taking over again.

  “Don’t you know? You live out here. Well, out here somewhere. You don’t live in a mountain, I know that.” Ember glanced around. “Well, that’s a different mountain over there, a scruffy one, like it hasn’t been tidied, and that’s a hill.” She squinted. “Over there is a bush or a very small tree—”

  “I know what the terrain looks like. I have eyes. Where did the Hawk send us? And why did she send you? And where the fuck is Camille?” She breathed hard and told herself to calm down. There was no need to go shouting swears like a degenerate.

  Ember’s face lit up. “I can tell you’re going to be fun. Do you want me to tell the story about the spell again? Maybe while we walk? I don’t know the name of the place we are, but if we start walking, we’re certain to find something interesting.”

  “I need to find the knights or Camille or…someone.”

  “You found me.” She flashed her fantastic smile again.

  Sydney sheathed her sword and rubbed the bridge of her nose. A headache snaked through her temples and down the back of her neck.

  “Are you hurt?” Ember said, her voice soft as if speaking to a wounded animal. “I don’t know how to tell since we’re not connected like Rowena and me, but I think you’re hurt. I have a bandage.” She paused and touched her own chest. “Now that I say it, I don’t feel her anymore. I must be too far away.” She frowned at nothing as if pained by the words.

  Sydney was about to snap at her, asking how a bandage could possibly help, but the pain on Ember’s face stopped her even if she didn’t know what was going on. “No, thank you, I don’t need a bandage. I’d like to find the people I was with.”

  Ember chewed her lip and looked around again. She brightened again as she pointed to a dark smudge on the distant horizon. “That might be the mountain where I live with Rowena. I saw it once in a ball behind one of Rowena’s contacts who lives near Arnvild’s northern border.”

  Hope sprang in Sydney’s chest. “So, if that’s her mountain, we must be near the border, closer to the Kells.” And it could be that she’d just discovered the Hawk’s location, but she couldn’t worry about that now. “Do you know where the other knights went?”

  Ember shook her head and put on a sly look. “But we might find them…with walking.”

  “Why aren’t we with them now? We were standing together for the spell.”

  “Magic stuff,” Ember said with a sage nod. “The spell went wrong somehow. Probably because of the witchstone. Maybe they’re nearby. Maybe they’re back where they were. Maybe…they’re walking.”

  “All right, all right.” Sydney took her first calm look at Ember, noting her athletic body, bright eyes, and the scar running across her face that didn’t detract from her wide-eyed beauty. “Why do you want me to go anywhere with you? The knights and the Hawk aren’t friends.”

  Ember snorted loudly. “I know, but you seem interesting, and you’re the only one here. And Rowena doesn’t make friends easily, but I think I might if I try. I liked the pirates, and I think some of them liked me, but they didn’t talk about their feelings much, and I wondered if that was the way of pirates or if lots of people don’t talk about their feelings or…”

  Ember chattered on as Sydney fell in step. What in the seven bells was she doing going along with this mystery woman? She should be trying to find Sir Robert, the knights, or Camille. With everything she’d heard, she didn’t think the Hawk would actually hurt Camille, but Sydney couldn’t just abandon her to possible danger, and who knew what peril the knights had found.

  But she didn’t see any knights or peril, and that left one direction, the lair of the Hawk.

  If Ember was even right.

  If they didn’t run into the Kells first.

  * * *

  Rowena’s head pounded, and her mouth was as dry as sand. She licked her lips, but it felt like kissing parchment. She pushed up on her elbows and blinked at her workroom. She must have passed out after the spell. A good thing Ember had put down the cushions, and she’d covered Rowena with a blanket, too, but—

  “Ember,” Rowena croaked, her memory coming back in a rush. She struggled upright, her body feeling like stone. She felt for Ember with her magic but couldn’t sense their tie. With a force of will, she pressed down the urge to sob as a tide of loneliness rushed through her. Now was not the time to give in to her stupid emotions. First, she would find Ember.

  Her stomach rumbled and whined, and she cursed the fact that mammoth spellcasting left her both ravenous and nauseated.

  But this one hadn’t gone as planned. Someone had used a witchstone, then a knight had almost appeared in her home, and Ember had shoved her out of the way and disappeared.

  Rowena stopped as she reached her study. Ember had disappeared. So, where had the blanket come from? The husks weren’t capable of such altruism without a command.

  A small noise came from the door. Rowena thought through all her spells. Some offensive casting didn’t require many reagents, but she was barely on her feet, using the walls to move. She had no more energy to give.

  An intruder might not know that.

  Still, best to have a backup plan.

  She scooped up a tall candlestick and held it upside down behind her back as she shuffled closer to the doorway. She worked her mouth to build up a bit of saliva, then called, “Show yourself or be destroyed.”

  A head poked around the corner. Rowena would have known those rounded cheeks, dark eyes and skin, and curly black hair anywhere, even though they hadn’t seen each other in person. Camille. Rowena tried to keep her shock from showing as Camille’s face brightened into a glowing smile.

  “Hawk, you’re awake. I was so worried.” She stepped into the room, arms out as if ready for a hug before she hesitated and cleared her throat, looking down. “I’m Camille, but you already knew that.” She chuckled, a sound more embarrassed than amused. “I just said it because we’ve never formally met, like you said, and…”

  Rowena couldn’t respond, trying to think how this could have possibly happened. Beautiful women didn’t appear in her home every day.

  Or any day.

  “Um,” Camille said, shifting as if desperate to fill in the silence. “Sorry I had to leave you on the floor. I couldn’t find anyone to help put you in bed. I got a blanket out of the first bedroom I found. I hope that’s all right.”

  “Fine,” Rowena said breathlessly. No other words appeared no matter how desperately she searched for them. Why was it so much easier to speak to someone through the crystal ball than in person? She tried to think of what to say, a hello or a welcome or a what the bollocks are you doing here, but nothing came to mind. Camille’s face was honest as well as lovely, and for some reason, that made her harder to talk to.

  Rowena heard a muted pop behind her, then a small thump. The candle that had fallen from its upside-down holder rolled past her foot.

  Camille gave it a glance. “So, anyway…hello.” She shifted awkwardly. “Is your name really Hawk, or—”

  Rowena found some words at last, anything to cover her awkwardness. “It’s Rowena. Why are you here?”

  “I have…no idea.” Camille’s smile appeared again, but it slipped as if she was nervous. “I was with the knights. They seemed to be disappearing, then they were in a lot of pain, then this redheaded woman appeared, took a rock from Sydney, threw it to me, and the next thing I knew, I was here.”

  Rowena’s confusion gave way to irritation. Oh yes, she hadn’t forgotten the bloody witchstone. “The rock, where is it?”

  “I left it in there.”

  Rowena turned back toward her workshop, following the line of Camille’s pointing finger. She found the out-of-place stone and lurched toward it, her body screaming at her to sit down and rest or better yet, lie down on a giant sandwich and eat her fill before drifting into exhausted sleep.

  She didn’t touch the stone but poked it with a pencil. If it was a witchstone, it would remain inert until a spell was cast, but she didn’t want to take any chances. There was no way to stop a spell once it had been cast, but a witchstone could disrupt the flow of magic, creating unpredictable results. Some witchstones could also hold the spellcaster in place while the spell was disrupted. But this one had seemed to pull Rowena toward it and pull itself toward her. It had taken Ember and given her Camille, but how?

  “Where are we, anyway?” Camille asked from the door.

  “My home in Mt. Plaedies,” Rowena mumbled. She put a hand to her forehead. She had no idea where Ember or the knights were. They could be at the northern border where they’d been headed; they could be at the field where they’d started; they could be at the bottom of the buggery ocean.

  Ember might be fighting for her life.

  And Rowena didn’t have enough life force to bring her back, wouldn’t have enough for a few days, maybe even longer with how the witchstone-plagued spell had drained her. She rubbed at that ache in her chest again.

  Camille was saying something about caves being cold and dark.

  Rowena’s temper flared. “If you don’t like it, leave.” She turned a glare in Camille’s direction, expecting to see hurt or tears or a hasty retreat.

  But Camille had her hands on her hips and her own glare in place. “I was complimenting how you managed to make a cave so welcoming and not cold and dark like I expected, but you clearly weren’t listening.”

  “Oh, excuse me if I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment, trying to figure out what darling Sir Robert did with my…friend.” She’d been about to say homunculus, but Camille surely wouldn’t know what that was. “And your bloody knight.”

  “And you’ll be able to figure it out by shouting at me?”

  Rowena slashed a hand through the air and turned back to the witchstone.

  Camille sighed loudly. “All right, let’s not get testy. Tell me what I can do to help.”

  “Are you a witch? No? Then you can’t possibly help me figure this bloody mess out.”

  “No, I’m a master researcher. I figure out bloody messes for a living.”

  Rowena snorted a laugh. “Not magical ones, I’d wager.”

  “I’ll never know if I don’t try.”

  Rowena turned again, trying her best glower. She drew herself up as tall as she could, turning the complaints in her joints into an all-out bitch fest. “I am the most powerful witch in Arnvild, and I will not be thwarted for long. If you’re smart, you’ll stay out of my way.”

  Her stomach chose that moment to make another loud declaration, dispelling her aura of menace like a gale force wind.

  Camille smirked. “Why don’t I find the kitchen and make some breakfast? If that’s okay with the most powerful witch in Arnvild?”

  Rowena turned away, cheeks burning. “That’s fine, thanks,” she muttered. Oh yes, this research was off to a fabulous start.

  * * *

  Ember knew about sex. She’d read about it at first. And Rowena had told her about it while blushing like mad and including lots of swears. Plus, some visitors to the mountain had offered to share their knowledge physically, and that had been very nice indeed.

  Sex had been one of the things she’d been looking forward to during her adventure out in the world, and looking at Sydney definitely encouraged sex thoughts in Ember’s brain.

  Sydney was lean and muscled. She was quick and tall and tan, and though her face had been scowling since they’d met, her features were pleasingly symmetrical, with a strong chin and large, bright blue eyes. Her hair reflected the sun like a jewel.

  But more importantly, she knew things, though she seemed reluctant to speak about any of them. She was a puzzle who’d lived her whole life outside of Mt. Plaedies, and that meant she’d had a great many adventures and seen many things and heard different things, and Ember wanted to know each and every one of them.

  As they walked, Ember fought the urge to stare, remembering that it was rude, but she never minded anyone staring at her. How else was she supposed to remember what a person looked like if she couldn’t look?

  “Where have you lived?” Ember asked.

  Sydney stopped scanning the countryside to blink at her. “What?”

  “I lived in the mountain with Rowena, and you lived…” Sydney needed a lot of prompting, but Ember didn’t mind. Maybe no one ever asked her questions.

  “Why?”

  Ember blinked now, mystified. “Why what?”

  “Why do you care where I’ve lived? Why does it matter?”

  She might as well have asked why Ember kept breathing or why there was something instead of nothing. “Because…I want to know.”

  “I gathered that,” Sydney said slowly. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because I want to know everything about you.”

  “Again, why?” She seemed genuinely confused and more than a little upset.

  She wasn’t the only one. No one had ever asked Ember such questions. Rowena put her off at times, claiming that too many questions gave her a headache, but she’d never wanted to know why Ember was asking. Ember sighed, missing her connection to Rowena. She’d never considered the fact that distance might weaken it. She’d never noticed until now how much she depended on it to help her understand their conversations. With Sydney, with anyone else, she’d have to explain everything.

  Oh, well. It seemed a small price.

  “I want to know everything,” Ember said slowly. “Everything in the world. The mountain was small. Nice but small, and it only had so much information. Now I’m out here, and I want to know everything, and you’re here, and you’re fascinating, so I thought I’d start with you.”

  “I’m fascinating?”

  “Quite.”

  “Huh.” Sydney seemed thoughtful. “Well, Ember who appeared out of nowhere and spent her entire life in a mountain, I think you’re more fascinating than I am.”

  Ember grinned, feeling nice. “You can ask me any questions you want, and then I can ask you questions, and we’ll be fascinating together.”

  Sydney still seemed confused, but she had a small smile, and that was a good sign. “I live in the knight’s chapterhouse in Kingston. Before that, I lived on a farm with my family in Sheffordshire.”

  “What’s a chapterhouse like? What’s Kingston like? What was being on a farm like? How many in your family? What do they look like?”