The Snow Queen's Shadow

to say, anything that might bring comfort.
    “It’s all right,” said Gerta. “She’s my sister. This is what I was made for.”
    “There has to be a way to send the demon back to wherever it came from,” Danielle protested.
    Gerta shook her head. “Even if I could duplicate the magic my mother used to summon the demon . . . even if I were willing to try that kind of magic . . . the demon is stronger now. It has Snow’s power as well as its own. We might be able to kill it—”
    “Doubtful,” Bellum scoffed.
    “—but control it? No.” Gerta’s hand moved, almost as if she were reaching for Talia, but she stopped herself.
    Danielle swallowed. “How do we trap the demon long enough to kill it? Won’t it try to escape to another host?”
    “Gerta and I talked about that on our way back.” Talia reached into her pocket and pulled out the broken blue chain Laurence had used to suppress Gerta’s powers, back at the palace.
    “It won’t hold for very long,” said Gerta. “It wasn’t designed to contain a demon, but the chain follows the principles of a binding circle. If you can secure it around Snow, I think it will last long enough to . . . to do what you must.”
    “Save these until you’re on the road,” said Veleris as she finished wrapping the rest of the fish.
    “Thank you.” Danielle bowed. “We’re in your debt, and I give you my word as Princess of Lorindar that none of us will reveal your secret.”
    Veleris smiled. “Princess Whiteshore, you never would have found us without your darkling friend. You couldn’t lead another soul here if you tried.”
    “Not that I expect you to live long enough to come looking,” added Bellum.

CHAPTER 21

    D ANIELLE SPENT THE NIGHT HAUNTED BY dreams of Jakob, trapped in an icy prison, searching and calling for her but unable to find her. When she tried to answer, her throat refused to obey, and her limbs were like stone. She awoke feeling even more exhausted than before.
    Tommy guided them through the twisting tunnels to the surface. Danielle ate as she walked, forcing herself to finish a hard smoked roll that tasted of mushrooms and smoke and old meat.
    The sun was low in the sky when they emerged, and Danielle shivered even within the bundled jacket and oversized mittens the giant had provided. Their weapons had also been returned, along with blankets, rope, and other supplies crammed into musty, dirt-stained packs.
    Tommy jabbed his shovel to the northeast. “Head that way until you reach an old mining trail. It should take you the way you want to go.”
    “Thank you,” said Danielle.
    The knocker was already retreating through the small hole from which they had emerged. He raised his shovel in salute, then rapped it against the wooden frame of the entrance. The impact collapsed the drifted snow overhead, burying the way in.
    Gerta used her boot to clear away the worst of the snow. She frowned, then dug deeper. Her efforts revealed nothing but snow and rock. “That’s a nice trick.”
    The darkling shifted its form, becoming a pair of shadow-thin reindeer once more. Climbing onto the creature’s back was no less disturbing than the last time, but the darkling was the fastest way to reach the lake.
    Danielle watched Gerta and Talia as they mounted the other reindeer, wondering what had happened in the mine. Gerta’s fear was still very much present, but the edge was gone. As for Talia, she was hurting, though she tried to hide it. The clipped tone of her words, the tension in her body . . . she meant to save Snow, no matter the cost. Danielle could see it in the way she moved, deliberate and purposeful.
    Danielle prayed for the same, but if Bellum and Veleris were right and there was only one way to stop this demon . . . She prayed that it wouldn’t come to that, for all their sakes.
    Talia scowled when she saw Danielle watching her. “Come on. The sooner we leave these damned fairies behind, the happier I’ll be.”
    “Damned fairies?” Danielle repeated. “Does that include me as well?” The words sounded strange. In her mind, she was as human as Talia . . . though perhaps that wasn’t the best comparison, given the magic flowing through Talia’s blood.
    “Don’t be stupid,” Talia snapped.
    Danielle knew Talia well enough to know her barbs weren’t personal, her anger not directed at Danielle. “It changes things,” she said. “The people were wary enough when their prince married an ash-covered servant girl. What