“I-I . . .” I stammered, then shut my mouth, unable to explain. Al was cruel, vindictive, angry, elegant, powerful. He gave me strength, he gave me wisdom, not only about magic, but about myself. He was a lot like Trent, only harsher around the edges.

Sensing my emotions, Trent turned away, head down and grimy hair shifting in the gritty wind. “I will never understand you. How can you forgive so easily?”

“Yeah? Well, that’s what’s going to save both our asses,” I said, hoping it was a prophecy, not a prayer.

“Take her!” Ku’Sox shouted. “Finish her!”

Heart pounding, I shifted my feet to find solid earth beneath the scree. My will strengthened our circle, and I felt Trent do the same, wild magic seeping up from the earth to send darts of gold through the black smut crawling over the barrier. “What’s the matter, Ku’Sox?” I mocked when Dali and Newt exchanged worried glances. “Since when do you need anyone’s help? I though this was between you and me? How come you called them? Can’t do it yourself?”

“You are hiding behind a stinking elf!” he snarled, gesturing wildly.

“He smells quite nice,” I shouted back, making Bis giggle. “And it’s not hiding, it’s using my resources to the fullest! You can use Nick if you want.”

Ku’Sox’s eye twitched. Next to me, Trent lifted his chin. “I stand with Rachel to fix the ever-after,” he said quietly, making a sharp contrast to Ku’Sox’s loudmouthed bullying. “I stand to save the demons. What do you stand for, Ku’Sox Sha-Ku’ru?”

Trent held up his mutilated hand, his ring glinting. Newt leaned to see and Al winced, dragged behind her as she came forward a step. “Al. Where did you get a working set of slavers?” she asked, and then she blinked in what had to be shock. “They’re using them backward! Is that even possible?”

Al slowly got to his feet, saying, “Apparently. And I didn’t give them to her, she made them herself.”

“No wonder she was able to strike me down,” Newt said smugly, but I didn’t think anyone believed her.

Ku’Sox limped forward. “You’re not going to help me finish her? She’s using an elf!”

“So?” Dali said, gesturing. “This is your issue. Your word against hers. If you can’t best her, then maybe she is right, and you are—wrong?”

“She ran away!” Ku’Sox said, gesturing, and I stiffened as I felt another demon show up. He was on the outskirts, listening. “It proves she’s at fault! I’d take her down now, but she’s grown inventive.”

“I think you mean powerful,” Newt said slyly, jerking Al closer to make his chains clink.