"Cassian!"

No matter how much she may deny it, she was a Morozko, and she would not lose him to something she should be able to control.

She forced herself to her feet, the wind driving into her. And it was cold. She narrowed her eyes against it. She would not let it make a mockery of what power she did have.

One step at a time, she forced her way through it though it pushed against her, like it was body struggling to hold her back.

"Cassian!"

Answer. Please.

If he did, she couldn't hear him over the raging of the wind. Each step she took was firm; she would give the ice no purchase against her.

It felt as if she walked in a dream, the wind might as well be tar. It fought her, pressed against her, but she pressed back harder. When she made it to the end, she crawled the last few feet, her bare hands pressing into the ice. It should have burned, should have at least felt cold. But it didn't.

Maybe she'd gone numb.

"Cassian!" She pushed herself along the ice the last couple of inches and heard a growl. Fingers clinging to the ice, she looked over the edge. "Ata," she swore.

The Fata hung by one hand from a bar that was dislodged and was becoming more so with each moment. Cassian's other arm hung at his side, blood dripping from the end of his sleeves, and blood covered the bar from which he hung. Below him, the couplers connecting the two cars train rattled as the tracks passed by in a blur.

"Can't you fly?"

He growled, louder. "If I try, I'll be slammed into the other car." And then fall between them, where some limb would be severed, not that it mattered if the fall succeeded in killing him.

Faryn reached down for him, and his eyes widened.

"I'll drag you down with me."

"No. You won't." She felt secure on the ice, to the point she wasn't sure whether it hadn't melted beneath her.

The bar groaned, and slid further from its socket, sending Cassian swinging.

"Cassian. Now." She flexed her fingers. "Take my hand."

"No."

"I need you to help me find my mom. To find Nick. Take my hand."

He stared at her; his eyes determined to do no such thing.

Her eyes narrowed. "Then what exactly is your plan? That bar isn't going to hold until the train stops."

His jaw tightened, and at last he reached his hand up toward hers. Their fingers brushed, and she strained to reach down farther. His fingers clamped above her wrist, his hand slick with blood. If she didn't act quickly, he would slip away from her.

She locked her hand around his arm, clutching it as if she were the one falling.

The Fata braced his feet against the carriage, and Faryn pulled, until he was climbing over the edge. Faryn fell onto her back, Cassian landing beside her, both of them panting.

The ice was harsh against the back of her head, but she laid there, not moving anyway.

"Thank you."

"I figured I owed you for saving me."

"Right." He sucked in big mouthfuls of cold air and rolled over, climbing onto his hands and knees, when he froze.

She turned to see what his eyes were locked on, and her breath failed her.

Across the carriage roof, footprints were embedded in the ice. The sides of the prints rose inches into the air, as if the ice had grasped onto Faryn and then melted enough to let her take a step.

"I—" She hadn't even been trying to find her powers at that moment. She had just wanted to cross the ice. "I don't know how I . . ."

Maybe the key was that she hadn't been trying. Which meant she wouldn't be able to do it again. She looked back to where she'd hauled Cassian over the side and found the ice had done something similar where she'd lain, as if it had been bracing her so she wouldn't slide over the edge.

Her stomach churned. Now was not the time to get overwhelmed and throw up.

Cassian pulled himself to his feet, and only then did she realize he might be cold on the ice. She stood on shaky legs beside him. The green flag was two carriages ahead. Crossing the icy roof was one thing but how were they supposed to cross between the cars when there was no ramp besides for the rattling couples?

Flying didn't seem to be an option either. She examined him. His wings still out and seemed uninjured, but blood still dripped from his arm, staining the ice.

"How deep?"

"I'm fine." He tried to take a step forward, but his foot began to slide. "Can you get us across?"

"No." Something squeezed at her heart. "I don't know how to do that again."

But didn't she? She was fed up with the wind, the ice, all of the supposed powers she could have, mocking her. She had needed to cross the roof, ice or no ice, wind or no wind, and so she had.

Now she needed to get to that flag. Peter and Clíodhna would be in the room waiting for them. It didn't seem likely they would venture up onto the roof in search of them. And besides, they couldn't remain up here. Cassian would freeze long before Faryn did.

She took a step forward, not looking down. Her foot held firm.

"Hold onto me." She squared her shoulders against the wind, and Cassian's hands grabbed hold of her waist. She felt him along her legs, her back. His breath was warm against her bare neck.

If this didn't work, they were both going to careen over the edge.

No. That wasn't going to happen. She was going to cross the roof because she needed to. It was as simple as that.

"Step where I do."

His nose brushed the back of her hair as he nodded, and she fought the urge to tremble.

She took one step, followed by another and another. Cassian simultaneously felt like an anchor and something that would cause her to slip.

She refused to look down.

It wasn't much of a relief when they reached the end of the carriage. The couples rattled in the gap between the two cars.

Maybe Peter would come looking for them. But would his powers be able to do anything to get them out of this mess?

If they entered the train from anywhere but that one latch, they would be spotted, and then Jack would be waiting for her when she got off the train in Antimonia. Because she would get off the train there. She was going to make it inside.

At least she hoped.

If she understood what this power was, how it worked, maybe she could have created a bridge they could cross. If it were the opposite direction they were coming from, she might be able to jump the gap with the wind at her back, helping her. But as it was now, it blew into her, wanting to push her back where they'd come from.

"Can you use your powers to hold back the wind?" She knew he couldn't control it, but perhaps he could fight it.

Again his nose brushed her hair as he nodded. "I can't carry you, fly, and use my powers all at the same time though."

"As long as you can push back the wind, I can jump."

"Faryn, if your powers don't work, you'll slip right off the roof."

"I won't."

"How do you know?"

She didn't know, but she had to keep telling herself she'd be able to do it.

Cassian took a deep breath before shoving his arms outward, and the wind stopped barreling into her. Cassian in two beats of his wings crossed the gap while Faryn backed up. The ice felt steady to her.

Letting out a breath, she saw it twist in the air before her, and she ran. Reaching the edge, she pushed off the ice, launching herself over the gap. She landed on the next car, too far to the right and slid.

The ice did not catch her. Her legs flew out in front of her moments before she slid over the edge.

Desperate, she grappled for something to grasp but there was nothing.

The wind was stealing her life from her, and it even stole the scream that spilled from her lips.

Cassian's hand shot out from the roof and wrapped around her arm. He yanked her back up over the edge onto the train's roof.

"Thank you," she gasped out. They still had one more car to cross. She pulled herself to her feet only to have the blood rush from her face. "The tunnel."

She had forgotten about it.

In the distance was the opening of the tunnel the train would enter to cross the ocean. If they didn't make it into their room before the carriage passed into the tunnel, they would be smashed into the edges of it.

Cassian's hands once more gripped her waist. The ice would bend to her this time because it not bending was not an option.

She pushed against the wind, one step at a time, Cassian's fingers digging into her.

The train raced toward the tunnel. They were going too slow.

After twenty-two years of working and studying, of dealing with assholes, one culprit in particular who probably only went missing to screw with her, she was not going to be outdone by wind and ice. Two things that should have been her birthright. Yes, she was no Father Winter or Jack Frost.

But she did not want to be them.

She may have the Alkine blood of the Morozkos pumping through her veins, but she was also an Elf. Alkine and Elf.

She stopped, and Cassian's body ended up pressing tightly along hers.

Maybe she didn't get any magic from her father, but she had been given some by her mother, and she wasn't going to die because she was being stopped by something she should be able to control.

She dropped down, digging her palms into the ice. They were going to get across the carriage and to Peter. There was no other option.

The roof trembled beneath her, and cracks formed along the ice, spreading both outward and forward. She let out a breath, and the ice before her shattered, sliding off the roof of the train like pieces of hail.

Her breath shook at what she had done, and she stared, frozen as if the ice had decided to trap her.

But Cassian's hand was there, closing over her wrist and tugging her forward. When they reached the end of the train car, he pushed back the wind and flew.

She took a running start and leapt.

Her feet landed hard on the ice on the other side, and it shattered underneath her. She did not slip.

The green flag flapped violently in the wind near the center of the car. They had reached the right carriage, but the tunnel's opening was growing larger with every second.

What she needed was the ice between them and the hatch gone.

She took one step forward, and fissures spread out from the sole of her boot, racing outward like branches on a tree until finally a noise split the air like a firework exploding. The ice broke apart, clearing the way for them to get to the hatch.

No longer needing to hold onto Faryn, Cassian was able to use his powers to keep back the wind as the two of them ran across the roof. He slid to his knees before the hatch, twisted the lock, and threw the hatch open right as the front of the train disappeared into the tunnel. There wasn't time to confirm that it was the right cabin or to feel for rungs to help them climb down. She dropped through it, and the moment her feet found the ground, her knees bent in a crouch, she rolled out of the way to make room for Cassian. With a thud he landed beside her before he flew back up and grabbed hold of the latch. He slammed it shut a second before the windows to the right of the room were plunged into inky darkness.

He fell back down, entirely ungracefully and landed on his back—wings gone—beside where Faryn laid, working to catch her breath.

Now with the imminent danger out of the way, she was able to take in where she was. At the end of the room were two bunk beds embedded in the wall, one on top of the other. Clíodhna and Peter stood near them, looking as if they had jumped to their feet seconds ago. From Faryn's point of view though they appeared as if they were upside down.

The room they had gotten was considered a suite but was still small. There was a table near the bunk beds, and on the other side of the room was a full-size bed. The door beside it, must lead to a bathroom while the other door in the room should lead out into the carriage's hallway.

"I'm going to kill Arlo." Cassian voice was hoarse.

Peter came toward them. "What took you so long?"

"The wind was strong than I expected."

"You seemed certain you could handle it."

Cassian growled, but Peter didn't back away, instead kneeling beside Faryn.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pressing a hand to his forehead. Was he really checking for a fever?

"Super," she lied. Would Cassian end up revealing what she had done? She didn't want them to know. Didn't want them to be relying on her to be able to use those powers.

"You both should rest." Clíodhna opened a cabinet that looked empty, and she frowned. "Peter and I will go get you food."

"We will?" Peter sounded surprised. Perhaps the two of them alone hadn't been going well.

She stalked past them toward the door that should lead out of the suite. Peter stood slowly and moved to her side. Before she opened the door, he turned back to Faryn and Cassian.

"Need I remind you to not leave this cabin?"

Faryn shook her head, exhausted. Now that the train was in the tunnel, it would pick up speed, and she'd had enough of walking while a train was in motion. The was scheduled to reach the Narcissus Court's island tomorrow around noon, and she was perfectly content lying on this floor until then.

Peter and Clíodhna left, and Faryn closed her eyes. She agreed with the Leprechaun. All she wanted to do was sleep.

But she couldn't fall asleep yet. Pulling herself up, she unhooked her bag from around her neck and dropped it onto the bottom bunk. Her clothes were wet from the ice, and it took a great deal of willpower to get her to trudge into the bathroom to change.

A few minutes later, her head hit the pillow of the bottom bunk. Her body felt heavy, as if weights had been attached to her muscles and were dragging her down into the mattress.

She had controlled it. She—Faryn—who for all her life only had a tolerance to the cold and hair that liked giving her white highlights to mess with her. Was her body this tired from the use of her magic or was it just in shock from everything that it had gone through in only a few minutes?

Sleep was tugging her under.

What would Jack do if he learned his cousin possessed their family's magic?

Just how painful would he make her death?

Our Faryn has some more powers! I'm saying this now, but I don't think you're ready for the next chapter. Any guesses? I'll be posting it Friday.