Weapons in hand, our ragged band sets off for the narrow passage that leads to the heart of the Winterlands. I plead with Gorgon one last time.
“I wish you would join us. We could sorely use you.”
“I cannot be trusted,” she insists.
I lean closer to her than I ever have before, as if I might embrace her. One of the snakes rubs over my wrist, and I do not pull away. It flicks its tongue and moves on. “I trust you.”
“Because you do not know me.”
“Gorgon, please…”
Pain shows in her eyes and she closes them to hide it. “I cannot, Most High. I shall await your return.”
“If I return,” I say. “We are outnumbered, and my magic is unreliable.”
“If you fall, we are all lost. Destroy the tree. That is the only way.”
“Will she come with us?” Ann asks when I catch up to them.
“No,” I say.
Ph
