“One piece? Grace was limping.”

“I noticed that, too. She tried to hide it, so I played along. She’s got it in her head that she’s weak, and I didn’t think it would be nice to make her feel that way.”

Brenya’s mouth tightened with her scowl. “Foolish games. I sent her with you so that she would learn to trust you. How can she do so when I am no longer certain you are worthy?”

“Wait just a minute. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Did you ask her to heal you?”

“No. You know Grace. She just decided to do that on her own. I couldn’t have stopped her from making that nasty concoction if I’d tried.”

“Concoction?”

“Yeah. The knockout juice she forced me to drink—the one she said you taught her how to make.”

Brenya’s anger faded between one second and the next. She seemed to deflate, growing shorter and older in an instant. “You did not ask her to use the disks to heal your injuries?”

“Hell, no. I’d never do that. I didn’t even know it was possible.”

“It is. As long as she is connected to you, she can choose to take on your ailments. I had hoped it would take her longer to learn the trick.”

Suddenly the pieces clicked together in Torr’s head. “You’re telling me that the reason Grace is limping is because she healed my knee?”

“Yes. That is the way the device works. She takes the injury upon herself.”

“But what about the other times I’ve been wounded? She wasn’t hurt then.”

“Healing must be a conscious choice. Once that choice is made, it cannot be stopped. And the more she comes to care for you, the easier it will be for her to activate the disks’ magic.”

Torr could see Grace now, sitting beside him, wishing she could do more to ease his pain. “Fuck,” he spat, furious that he hadn’t seen this coming. “What do we do now?”

“Hope she does not already understand what she has done. Hope she remains ignorant long enough for you to rid Temprocia of the Solarc’s minions and get her settled in her rightful home.”

“She’s smart, Brenya. She’s going to figure it out fast.”

“Then I suggest you try harder to limit your injuries. Your body can withstand much more abuse than hers. If she decides to heal the wrong wound…”

He held up his hand to keep her from saying any more. “Believe me, I know.”

Grace wasn’t going to stop. As soon as she figured out what she could do for him, she would do it. Over and over until it was too late. He’d lose her, all because she had no sense of self-preservation.

“I see you understand the situation clearly,” said Brenya. “We have the crystals now. All that is left is for you to discover where the portal is being constructed, wait for its completion, then destroy it. There is a place you must go. A lake miles from here.”

“Can you handle things here if I leave?”

“I will do what I must, as I always have.” Her expression changed in an instant, going from weary acceptance to fear. “My defenses faltered. I was not exerting enough energy. You must go to the western perimeter. Now!”

“Why?” Torr asked.

A child’s scream of fear tore through the air and he no longer needed an answer.

His response to the sound was both primal and immediate. He burst through the hut door, racing toward that terrified sound—one he’d heard too many times before to mistake it for anything else.

As he cleared the Sentinel Stone, he saw a woman’s body lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Nearby stood the little girl with the white-blond hair who’d nearly been eaten by the lizard when he’d arrived. She was staring at the gory sight, screaming and immobile.

A few feet away from her was a sleek stone Hunter. One of its eyes rotated until it was looking at Torr. The moment it saw him, it charged the little girl, still wearing the blood of its first kill.

•   •   •

One second Grace was getting a drink from the well, the next she was standing in Brenya’s hut, dripping ladle in hand. The flash of light from the portal was still blinding her when the other woman grabbed her arm.

“I cannot be seen by the Hunter,” she told Grace. “I will take the others to the southern village. You must not let the invaders find us there. Keep them busy.”

“How?”

Outside, the screams of fear mingled discordantly with those of battle. Of all of them, Tori’s high, ferocious cries were the loudest and easiest to recognize.

Dry fingers settled on Grace’s brow just as her vision was beginning to clear. Instantly, all of her aches and pains vanished.

“This is all I can teach you,” said Brenya. “There is no more time.”

Pressure built behind Grace’s eyes until she was sure they would soon pop out of her head. As fast as the sensation came, it passed, leaving her dizzy and disoriented. “What was that?”

“Knowledge. It will unveil itself as you need it. I am sorry. I had hoped to spare you this.”

“Spare me what? I don’t understand.”

“I know, child. But you will. Too soon.” She picked up the box of crystals Torr had collected. “Come for these if you live. I will protect them until the time is right.”

Before Grace could ask more questions, Brenya disappeared in a flash of light.

All the screams outside suddenly stopped.

Panic tore through Grace, shoving her forward on numb feet. She flew past the door so fast some of the sticks it was made of broke. She was sure that everyone outside would be dead—killed by whatever had attacked.

Instead, she saw no one but Torr and one of the Athanasian women who had only recently come here to have her child. She had been so horribly slain that her body was nearly unrecognizable. Everyone else had vanished.

Brenya. She’d done this. That’s what she’d meant by taking everyone to the southern village. She’d teleported them there, leaving only Grace and Torr behind.

But why?

As soon as her thoughts touched on the question, the answer blazed in her mind in vivid detail.

The Hunter had killed one of the Athanasian women—one of the Solarc’s daughters. The Hunter would report this kill back to the Masons, who would then report back to the Warden, who would report to the Solarc. If this Hunter didn’t die, then the Solarc would know his daughters were sneaking through the gate. By nightfall, this whole world would be invaded with a force so powerful that even Brenya’s magic wouldn’t be able to hold them at bay.