Then I sheathed it carefully and turned toward the figure on the ground.
She'd collapsed backward, her knife dropped, staring up at me with wide eyes.
My brain stopped working.
"Tessa?"
She smiled sheepishly and waved.
"Hi!"
Behind me, I heard Scarlet make a strangled sound.
"You've got to be kidding me."
I just stood there, staring, my mind completely blank.
What!
How?
Why???
Tessa pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her cloak with exaggerated casualness like she hadn't just been seconds away from being torn apart by wild hounds.
"Funny meeting you here!" She said brightly, like this was a chance encounter at the village market instead of the middle of a monster-infested forest at night.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Well," she said, maintaining that sheepish smile, "I was just passing by... my great aunt lives that way—"
I held up my hand.
She stopped talking.
I took a very deep breath.
Let it out slowly.
