Where is Jenks? My breath came in a sob when Pierce crouched before me, his unburnt hand reaching to wipe my tears away. “Rachel,” he said, his hand damp when he took mine to help me rise. “We’re in deeper trouble now. Best face it on your feet.”

Numb, I let him draw me to a shaky stand. “Jenks!” I shouted. God, had I killed them?

Pixy wings exploded from the stump. I dropped back, relief almost making me pass out. They were okay. All of them. But as they darted over the garden, shrieks of fear rang out. My face went cold. Shit, they were killing the grounded fairies.

“Jenks! No!” I shouted. “It’s done! Stop! Damn it, Jenks, stop it! Don’t kill them!”

Jenks was atop his stump, having dragged a sallow-faced fairy with him. He turned to me in disgust, his sword at the helpless warrior’s neck. The fairy’s eyes were wide and a nasty ooze was puddling at his feet—the remains of his wings.

“Jenks …,” I pleaded, and with a sour look, the pixy threw his blade in the air to shift his grip. With no fanfare, he gave the leader of the swarm a vicious thunk on the head. The fairy’s eyes rolled up and a ribbon of red blood leaked out.

“Damn it, Rache,” Jenks said as he let the fairy drop at his feet. “Why do you make things so difficult?”

“Thank you,” I whispered, kneeling to put our eyes on the same level.

“Round them up. Tie them down!” Jenks shouted, and his kids complained as he took to the air, seeming to pull me to my feet as well. Blood smeared him, and wiping his sword he said, “This is going to be trouble, Rache. You should have let me kill them.”

I started backing away, my gaze darting over the garden. He was angry, motions quick as he flitted away, savage and stinking of death. His kids were cruelly driving the flightless fairies together with torments and cuts. It was survival, but it was scaring me.

My gaze touched on Ceri, the hem of her dress shaking. I’d ruined her curse—a black curse as foul as a hanging corpse. Ivy’s eyes were black as she tried to regain control of her emotions, driven to the brink by the aggression around her, her grimed sword on the grass beside her. And Pierce stood watching me, a sad, tired expression in his eyes.

What am I doing? Who are these people I thought I knew, crying for death, lusting for it?

“I have to go,” I whispered, backing up farther yet.

Ivy’s eyes flashed even blacker, and Ceri turned, her expression hot with anger.

“Inside,” I added so they wouldn’t think I was leaving. “I need some water.”

I headed for the porch, snatching up Rex so she wouldn’t eat any of the grounded fairies.