Page 64 of The Hocus Pocus Handbook

“Is she?” This blasted fae never answers a direct question.

With a muttered curse, Rosa shoots an arrow into the water. “Nerys. This is Rosa. Ignore all these sentimental saps. Send help!”

We wait for a while. But the brackish water doesn’t stir with anything like a reply, and Kerboros doesn’t come back.

“Has he left us?” Rosa asks aloud. “Found a way out on his own, and off he went—to report back to that asshole cousin of his.”

“He wouldn’t,” I say.

“Are you sure?” Zeph counters.

At first I want to say that I am. I’ve kissed him. I wanted to do more. And over the time that we’ve been traveling together, I’ve come to know him. He doesn’t seem like the type who abandons his responsibilities. But he might view a trip to the In-Between as a chance to slip the leash. If the hunter goes missing, who can the Lord of Winter send to track him down? They do say this is where people who don’t want to be found go to get lost. So if Kerboros intended to run—to stop being Winter’s hound—this would be the perfect place to disappear forever.

“Even if he did run off,” Tara points out, “where would he go?”

Zeph sports a smug expression, a half smile on their lips. “Good question.”

I refuse to jump to conclusions, but it does feel like it’s been a while. There’s no way to track time in this place. It’s so featureless. Rocks and water and mist.

And that reminds me that we’re running out of time. Endless setbacks and delays will end in failure—my dad in a dungeon and me dying in the mortal realm. They will cut off Kerboros’s head. While I’m known for causing trouble, I also know when to stop. And things have spiraled so far out of control that I’m scared to death.

“Maybe Kerboros got turned around,” Tara says. “No landmarks.”

“You’re suggesting our scout got lost?” Rosa asks.

Zeph’s semi-smirk blossoms into a grin. “Is that better than him abandoning us? I’m not certain we have use for a tracker who can’t perform.”

“I’ll take incompetence over betrayal any day.” Tara frowns in their general direction, but there’s no heat behind her gaze.

I can’t stop myself from defending him. “Not necessarily incompetence. I doubt he’s been here before. Magic must react differently. It’s more—”

“Any earthen lump knows that you don’t set out alone here,” Rosa counters.

Is she calling Kerboros an earthen lump? Oh no, she didn’t. I’m ready to fight.

Before the argument can escalate, Kerboros strides into the clearing. “The answer is neither abandonment nor incompetence. I could not find an obvious path out of here, but I did find…him. Convincing him to accompany me required some doing.”

A gnome steps into view behind him. “I can’t believe this. After all this time, people!”

Judging by her expression, Rosa is even more irritated. “Another mouth to feed, one who couldn’t even save himself, it seems.”

“Govannon,” the gnome says, bowing slightly, and it’s a courtly gesture, made more so when he sweeps off his hat.

The name tickles the back of my brain. I snap my fingers. “Ragh mentioned you!”

Suddenly, there’s a gnome beside me, though I didn’t even see him move. “Do you know him? Is he well?”

“He misses you,” I tell him.

Hollowed eyes well up with tears, and he presses a hand to his tattered vest. “I have no idea how long I’ve been here. It feels like forever, so I figured he had forgotten me. I can’t believe he’s still thinking of me.”

“He gave us the impression that you’re the love of his life,” Kerboros says.

“Is he truly still waiting? For me?” The tears spill over and run into his beard.

I hesitate, then pat his shoulder lightly. “He thinks you’re the one who’s moved on. He has no idea that you’re trapped here.”

“Speaking of moving on,” Rosa prompts, “we can’t wait around forever.”