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Lake soon, Kelley knew that she would have to abandon the attempt. Her toes were already numb. “You’re okay. I’m here. I’ll help.”
    She stretched her hand out farther, the tips of her fingers just barely touching the velvety skin of the horse’s muzzle.
    Please don’t bite me , she thought desperately.
    But instead, the animal pushed its nose into her hand, butting gently at her fingers and blowing out warm air.
    “Okay. Good horsie. Okay.” Kelley swam closer, still careful to avoid the horse’s churning front legs. “Let’s get you out of here.”
    She ran her hands along the animal’s flank below the waterline to see if she could determine what was wrong. The horse seemed uninjured, from the little she could tell, but its powerful hindquarters weren’t moving in the way they should to keep the creature afloat. She reached farther around under the surface of the water toward the horse’s rump, and for a second she thought that she could feel something cold and rough…almost slimy —like fish scales.
    Kelley jerked her hand back.
    You’re not a horse! she thought wildly.
    Of course, that was ridiculous. The cold is affecting your brain, stupid. You’re imagining things .
    She reached out again and, feeling with her hands, realized there was a tangled net of slippery lake weed that had become wound around the back end of the animal—whatshe must have mistaken for fishiness.
    Kelley tugged at the strands of ropy vegetation, but the fibrous stuff was strong and she couldn’t get much of a grip. It kept slipping through her fingers, which were already stiff from the cold. Groaning in frustration, Kelley looked back to see that the horse wasn’t even struggling anymore. It just stared at her with one mournful eye. Its flaring nostrils were barely above the waterline.
    It was going to drown.
    Determination took hold. Kelley kicked herself back a little way from the horse’s flank to gather what strength she had left. She took three deep breaths, filling her lungs to capacity with biting cold air, and then dove beneath the surface of the water.
    Swimming down as far as she could, she grasped at the massed strands of weedy vegetation where they were rooted into the mud of the lake bed. Kelley swung her legs underneath her, planted bare feet in the mud, and wrapped the strands around her hands. Then she hauled on them for all she was worth.
    The slimy weeds went taut, but refused to break or uproot.
    Pull …once more.
    Pull, damn it . Lungs aching, she heaved again.
    Pull!
    As her strength began to fade, Kelley tugged weakly on the waterweeds one last time. Starbursts bloomed in front of her eyes as her brain began to starve for oxygen. Kelley shook her head. A cloud of bubbles escaped her mouth and nose—thelast of her air. She heard music, faint and far off, and thought she could see a weird, glowing light dancing through the water, swirling and coalescing all around her. She felt warm. One very last, feeble try…and Kelley felt the ropy stems give just a bit. Suddenly a sharp tug on the weeds jerked her painfully forward, wrenching her arms and shoulders.
    And then everything around her went completely black.

IV
    “S onny!”
    He turned at the sound of his name to see a fellow Janus emerging from the trees.
    “Maddox.” He held out a hand and they clasped forearms, smiling.
    “How goes the day, Sonn?” Maddox asked, a slight warm lilt to his voice.
    Sonny shrugged. “Does it feel different to you yet?”
    “Nah.” Maddox shook his head. “Feels just like every other year. Calm, serene, peaceful…well. That’ll soon change. In less than an hour’s time, the cracks will start to show in theGate. And every night after this one, for the next eight, there will be more cracks. Bigger ones. Until Samhain, when all hell breaks loose. Face it, Sonn.” Maddox lowered his voice, even though there was no one who could possibly overhear them. “Nine nights of the Gate opening wider and wider, and