Chapter 1
Run. Toward the white mountains. Do not look back. Just run.
A low, steady voice echoes through my mind. It’s not a voice I recognize, but I trust it.
So I listen.
I don’t know why I’m running. I don’t know exactly where I’m going. But whenever the trees part, I can see the white mountains ahead of me.
Branches crack behind me, beneath the weight of whoever is chasing me.
I run faster.
Branches gash my face, and stones tear into my bare feet. I want to look back. If I could see who follows me, perhaps I would remember what I’ve done to make them chase me.
Do not look back.
The rush of water drowns out the pounding of my heart. I can’t see the river through the trees, but I turn toward it anyway. Maybe I can lose them there.
I miss my next step as the ground disappears beneath me. I slide down a steep bank, clawing at the loose dirt. A scream escapes me as my face strikes something hard enough to rattle my teeth.
My body goes limp. The world keeps turning. Then freezing water closes over me, and everything goes quiet.
Wet pebbles shift beneath heavy boots when I wake.
I’m lying on my stomach, my cheek pressed firmly to uneven stone. My clothes cling to my freezing body.
A shadow quickly passes over me. Enormous wings beat against the air, sending a chill through my body.
Someone grips my upper arm and hauls me to my feet. My legs nearly fold beneath me.
The woman holding me has kind eyes. For a moment, I think I’m safe.
“She’s wearing all black,” she says. “Probably a fae spy.”
Fae?
A heavy thud shakes the ground.
“What does black have to do with being a fae spy, Amy?” a man calls from behind her. “Isn’t all your flight gear black?”
Flight gear?
She passes me to him. My knees buckle, but rough, calloused hands keep me upright.
“Do you speak?” he asks.
I try to answer. My voice won’t come.
“A fae spy it is,” he says.
Me? A spy?
I search my mind for an explanation. A name. A place. A home.
Nothing.
Who am I?
