The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“They were like that when we arrived at the cabin,”
Casteel answered, curling his arm around my waist as
leaves and thin branches crunched under Setti’s hooves.
“But they never looked like that before.”
“What could’ve caused that?”
“A hell of a storm must have come through here,” he
said, and when I glanced at Naill, he was looking up at
them, too. As far as we could see, the trees were bent and
misshapen.
What kind of storm could do that? Unsettled by the
sight, I fell quiet as we traveled forward. It didn’t take long
for us to reach the mist obscuring the mountains. It was so
thick and white that it was like soup. Even though I knew it
wouldn’t hurt me, I still tensed as Kieran loped through. I
noticed the other wolven then, streaking out of the haunting
woods around us and entering the mist with hesitation. I
spotted Jasper and Delano as they came to our sides, joining
the two horses. Wispy tendrils of mist curled around their
legs and bodies.
Delano lifted his head as he prowled between Naill’s
horse and Setti, looking up at me. I gave him an awkward
wave as I thought of Beckett disappearing into the mist the
first time I’d entered the Skotos.
But that hadn’t been Beckett.
Heart heavy, I faced forward, bracing myself to enter
the opaque nothingness. My eyes narrowed. The mist didn’t
seem as thick as I remembered. Or it moved, swirling and
thinning.
“That’s different,” Casteel noted, and his grip around my
waist tightened.
The mist scattered as we entered, spreading out and
opening a clear path for us. I twisted, looking behind us. The
mist came together again, sealing into a thick, seemingly
impenetrable mass. Turning around, I spotted several of the
wolven ahead, their fur glossy in the sunlight.