Chapter 21

“Thank the gods that Cass is such a good caster,” Greg said. “I don’t think we would’ve found you alive, if we’d gone to your place first.” He shivered and took another sip of his tea.

“You were way off the path.” Cassandra took up the story. “In this big clearing. You were lying on this grassy mound thing.” She made a rough camel-hump shape in the air.

Aiden shook his head, bewildered. “It was a tree stump.”

“There was nothing like that,” Cassandra said. “Just grass and blood and bodies of Dark Things everywhere. And you in the middle of it all. You looked…” She swallowed.

“It looked like the Dark Things might have come out early and went for you. You’d both been attacked pretty viciously,” Greg said. “You had a concussion, and most of your clothes had been shredded—”

“Your whole body had been fucking shredded,” Cassandra spat. “You looked like raw meat, both of you. At least the worst of the wounds were shallow enough for healing spells to work. But Tanner…”