Page 73 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

And—gods—the irony. I’d wanted her to stay back because I didn’t want her involved. But if she had come with me to see Poseidon, she wouldn’t be in harm’s way now.

Damn it.

That was foolish of me.

I should have kept her sewn to my hip.

Maybe I would once we found her and I gave her a talking to about rushing off on her fucking own.

I knew anger clenched its way around my heart so I could avoid the fear that wished to snarl and swallow through me.

If Hera wanted Epiphany dead, she would probably already be so.

No.

“No,” I said again out loud, startling Valerian, who looked over his shoulder. I gave my head a shake, and we continued forward, ducking at low-hanging limbs, our horses clambering along the steep path.

We turned a corner and pulled the reins to slow down as we approached other horses, Epiphany’s guards on them.

“Have you found her?” Valerian said, his voice breathy.

Theos narrowed his eyes at Valerian. “No. We’ve lost her trail. We’ve gone over this path a dozen times and can’t find sight of her.”

Panic assailed me again, numbing my fingers, and the wobbly motion of the horse beneath my legs tilted me, my vision spinning with it.

Gods, what if Hera had taken Epiphany? What if we never found her? Damn it, this was all my fault, and I didn’t have answers about what to do.

Valerian’s expression grew cool and focused, his gaze sweeping over the world. Long-limbed trees tangled together, competing with vines and slender stalks of bamboo that clattered as the wind shook them. Pepperings of gray clouds peaked through the massive boughs of the forest.

“There,” he said, pointing to an opening in the branches the size of a large window over a fallen log. Beyond the emerald leaves surrounding it, a drop in the mountain stretched, a hole so deep I couldn’t see where it ended. “That’s where she’d go.”

Theos frowned. “That’s quite the jump.”

Valerian’s eyes tightened as he pulled on his reins and compelled the creature to back up. “Epiphany could make it.” He nudged his horse into a run and jumped, ducking his head but still grazing the branches, which shuddered with his motion. His mare made the pass, its feet clicking as it hit the stone on the other side.

Oh, shit.

Valerian and Epiphany had explained how to jump on horseback to me before, but I’d never done it myself.

But I wasn’t getting left behind when Epiphany may need our help.

“Yah,” I said, urging my horse forward. She picked up into a run and wind rushed over the sweat that had broken out on my skin, my flesh turning to ice. I could do this. The vibration of the horses’ gallops echoed through my body, and I leaned in tighter towards her neck, tensing my legs, and then dug my heels into her side.

She reached the end of the path and leapt into the air.

For a moment, we soared.

We transformed into a bird sailing through the brush, limbs scraping my flesh.

And then we stretched out over nothing, the drop hundreds of feet below.

Rocks clattered with the motion, echoing as they tumbled down.

The impact of the horse landing beside Valerian thudded into my bones. But I released a shaky breath. We’d made it.

Valerian nodded at me and then began along the trail again.

The clattering of more horses crossing the gap sounded as some guards fell in behind us.