Page 117 of Shadowfox

I nodded, my breath shaking. “Still here.”

The cold did its best to numb the pain, but it didn’t work. Every step sent a sharp jolt from my shoulder to the base of my spine. Will’s grip around my waist was the only thing keeping me from collapsing onto the sidewalk.

The mansion was behind us now. Two blocks. Three. More?

Time wasn’t working properly. It stretched and compressed between breaths.

Each crunch of our boots on the frost-bitten pavement echoed too loudly.

A car engine hummed in the distance.

Will froze.

I did, too, heart thudding.

Eszter pressed against a brick wall, her eyes wide, white orbs in the blackness of the night.

Headlights washed across a corner a block away.

A black sedan coasted past. Not fast enough to be casual. Not slow enough to be certain.

We didn’t move, didn’t breathe.

The car didn’t stop.

I didn’t suck in a breath until it was out of sight.

“Keep going,” I murmured.

Another street. Then another.

I could feel the blood—wet and warm—spreading beneath my shirt.

Will hadn’t said anything, but I saw it earlier, in the way his jaw clenched when he looked at me.

“You’re pale,” he whispered.

“I’ve been paler.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I’m not.” I paused. “Okay . . . I’m okay. Just keep walking.”

The next car was worse.

It didn’t pass.

It slowed at an intersection a block behind us, braked for no reason, then sat there.

“Turn now,” Will said.

We ducked down an alley between two narrow houses.

A cat hissed and bolted across our path.

Trash crunched beneath Eszter’s feet.

The car never turned the corner. Maybe it wasn’t them. Maybe it was.

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