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"You think they’ll jump back to the Otherworld?" she asked

"I’ht by huentry"

"Pagiel’s probably strong enough to juate," Jasmine reminded o to the gate And we’ll be waiting for him We can beat hiet again Any nuates to choose frorabbed ate open up?"

"The Thorn Land, actually"

"Ballsy," she said

I laughed "I suppose so But I think it’s a pretty redom Easy for him to hide out and also close to an Oak Land border"

I wanted to double the speed liood time on the interstate It was once we had to turn off and head into the desert that we slowed I watched the clock anxiously, constantly running calculations on how long it would take his posse to get there The odds see when it caate, and I parked the car a little ways froiel wouldn’t knoas ht humans were in the area It was late afternoon, in the middle of desert country, and the heat was in full effect Jas water bottles, but they didn’t stop the sweat fro off of us as the sand radiated back the sun’s uaro cactuses They didn’t offer ain, I didn’t want our presence to be obvious to Pagiel

The afternoon wore on, and I began to doubt iel decided not to risk crossing into one of doms Or maybe he’d soone Our water was running low, though both Jas plants if necessary I felt bad about that sometimes, but it occasionally had to be done for survival

"There," said Jas and saw sand being kicked up as a group of horses and riders came into view

"Unbelievable," I said "They rode horses froiel was in the lead, easily visible with the way the sun lit up his red hair There were about a dozen riders with him, which made my heart sink His initial raids had only contained a handful A dozen was hardly an arnified an increase in support After seeing the passionate reactions back in the Otherworld, I had a feeling he could have recruited entry had trouble crossing over to this world

I waited until he was closer but not close enough to cross through the gate I juiel!" I yelled

He flinched in the saddle, and instantly, I felt the wind pick up It stilled when he saw us, though the wary expression on his face clearly showed he didn’t quite trust us as friends His riders regarded us with equal caution, and I saw the flash of a few copper blades

"Your Majesty? Jas here?"

"You already know," I said, trying to present an air of peace and caliel, you know they’re not right"

"Humans have plenty!" exclaimed one of his followers "We’re entitled to reap our share"

Pagiel silenced hied Somehow, the boy sidekick I’d befriended had become more of a fordoiel "They are in yours too Can you honestly say you don’t want to help theued "We’re on rations, yeah, but at least we’re surviving honorably"