Calen and I were walking down a wooded trail in the dark.

A night sky dotted with stars peeked through the bare branches overhead, which was a bit odd, because somewhere in my mind I remembered it being summer. The trees should be covered in thick, green leaves right now... but they weren't.

There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, just enough to glitter in the moonlight. My breath came in clouds as I walked uphill, picking my way through the trail. Calen walked behind me, the lantern in his hand casting just enough light to see by.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "It could be a trick."

I was sure.

"The Moon Goddess doesn't have a reputation for trickery," I heard myself say. The voice felt like it came from my mouth, but it didn't sound like I expected. Feminine, yes, but deeper in tone and rougher in timbre.

"The Sylvans who follow her do," he countered.

"Then isn't it a lovely thing the message came directly to me rather than through her followers?" I turned back for a brief moment to smile at him, but Calen didn't look pleased.

"I'm here for you. I will protect you no matter what happens."

"There's no need to worry so much, my love," I said, waving my hand vaguely.

We were almost to the end of the trail. Ahead, I could see a break in the trees, an empty glade, and more crystals of light, fresh snow glittering on the ground—

I woke sitting bolt upright, breathing hard and cursing under my breath. A fine sheen of cold sweat coated my forehead, and I felt dazed and disoriented.

It was my day off, and I'd fallen asleep on the couch in the middle of a cheesy romcom that had the same plot as half the other cheesy romcoms I'd seen before. Don't get me wrong— I did pick the movie, so I wouldn't complain about the plot, I just hadn't missed much by falling asleep.

I wasn't normally one to put stock in dreams as more than something reflective of the subconscious mind, but when coupled with the Threads, I wondered if it could be something more. And, if so, what on earth was it showing me?

How well did I know Calen? Could I really trust someone who had such a vendetta against the Sylvans? Was his desire for representation actually a desire for vengeance?

I wasn't sure what he might want revenge for, though.

I flopped onto the sofa and groaned. More than likely, this was all my imagination running away with me. I'd always been one for wild stories, and I loved to read, so my brain was probably taking pieces of the last several books I'd read and smushing them all together in my head.

Grabbing my phone from the side table, I dialed Dante's number. Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to pick up. Rather than go through pleasantries, I decided to cut straight to the chase.

"Calen wants to come with me to see the Council, if that's okay or... possible?" I hazarded. I didn't even know if he'd be allowed.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment.

"We could likely work that out. He'll be under strict guard the whole time, but we can work that out if it would make you feel more comfortable," Dante finally said.

"Thank you," I breathed, slumping a little in the chair. I didn't realize how much tension I'd been holding about that.

"You'll need to be especially careful while you're here, though. That goes for both of you," Dante said. "Witches aren't... viewed in the best light by those on this side of the Veil right now."

"Did something else happen?"

"More of the same," he sighed. "There are still attacks happening and holes in the barrier, and no one can figure out how these people are getting through. The attacks are becoming more violent, too, and they're closer to the Court. People are scared."

"Understandably so," I murmured. I wouldn't want someone coming in from outside to visit me if the situation was reversed. "How long will the meeting take?" I asked.

"That depends on you, to be honest. The Council has made arrangements for you to be here for two nights, just in case, so pack a bag," Dante said.

"Good to know. I'll give Calen a heads-up on that, too." I also made a mental note to pack my sleeping medication, considering that I'd have to sleep in an unfamiliar place full of people who weren't sure if they wanted to protect me or kill me.

Comforting.

"Sunday... are you sure you trust him?" Dante asked carefully.

"Who, Calen?" I blinked. "Yeah, I trust him. I think he's just been through a lot."

I wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but clearly there were things in his past that still troubled him.

"Okay," Dante conceded. "I'll see you soon, then."

This was going to be an interesting trip if my two escorts were constantly trying to guard me from each other.

When he hung up, I immediately called my mother. I'd need to let her know that I'd be gone for an undetermined amount of time, probably a few days at most,

"I'm going to the Sylvan Court for a couple of days," I said quickly. "It's a long story, but... don't worry about it. Nothing bad is happening."

"You're sure? Do you want me to go with you?"

"No," I said quickly. "No, I'm okay. I'm going with a friend."

Two friends.

Well... a friend and an... almost boyfriend? Soul mate but not anything else official yet? Probably best not to go explaining that to Mom just yet.

"Something else on your mind?" she tried. "You're not talking much. I know what it's like when your thoughts get loud."

I took a breath.

I didn't want to tell her everything. I didn't really even want to tell her about Calen, just because I wasn't ready to face all the questions. Having your mom meet your boyfriend was bad enough. I didn't really want to have her meet my soul mate until we were, at the least, solidly in a relationship.

Hell, I hadn't even agreed to be his girlfriend yet!

But...

"I was thinking," I said slowly, "About Callie."

That wasn't a lie. It wasn't what was troubling me most, but it was eating at me all the same.

"Oh, honey," Mom said, her tone immediately shifting. "We've been over this. I don't know what you think you did, but it wasn't your fault."

"I told you before," I said. "She asked me to change the Threads, and I did. And then something bad happened."

And then someone died.

Callie wanted to win her track meet. She was a sprinter, and it was an important race, one with scouts for the Olympics present. She asked ahead of time about the results, and I was stupid enough to think that it would be okay if I told her, that it would maybe be better if I told her. She made herself sick worrying over it.

So, I told her the truth: she was set to come in third.

She begged me for weeks to change the Threads. She said she wouldn't stop practicing, would do everything she could to get better on her own, and she did. By the day of the race, though, her fate hadn't changed.

It was the one time that I gave in. I was 23 at the time, and I was stupid. I knew the drawbacks of changing fate at the last moment, but I just thought... Well, it was a race. The drawbacks of changing a position in a race at the last minute couldn't be the same as changing the fate of a car crash or a random shooting, right?

Wrong.

The outcome of the race was set to affect the lives of the runners in a drastic way. And I changed that, so fate took another route to change their lives.

One of the runners had a heart attack on the track. She was twenty-two years old, and she was in the lead when she just collapsed only feet from the finish line. Callie came in first because she couldn't skid to a stop before she crossed the finish line, and then immediately doubled back to check on the other girl.

The worst part was that Callie didn't even blame me. She blamed herself for asking. Our friendship went through a rough patch after that, with both of us blaming ourselves and not really wanting to talk about what had happened, but we were starting to heal. Really, truly heal, not just take first steps.

"I haven't heard anything from her in a long time," I finally said.

"I'm sorry, baby. I know you were close," Mom said, sighing.

More than close. We'd been inseparable since the start of college. We were like sisters.

"Do you think something happened to her?" I asked quietly, almost afraid to know the answer.

There was a long pause from the other end of the line. Too long, almost. It made me nervous to wait on my mom for that long, mostly because it meant she was thinking about how exactly to phrase something that I didn't want to hear.

"I know I don't understand exactly how your magic works," she said slowly, "but if you really want to know if something happened to her, don't you have the ability to check?"

I almost dropped the phone.

My mom, in twenty seconds, had thought of something I hadn't thought of in two whole years of zero contact.

I didn't need to rely on the phone. If Callie didn't want to see me, then fine, but if I wanted to know if she was still alive and safe, all I had to do was put time aside to reach out and find her Threads.