“Not until Trent gets here,” I said, seeing Bis swooping around to drop another rock on Ku’Sox. I fumbled at Al’s bindings. They were simple cords, but my fingers hummed when I touched them. Clearly they were spelled.

“He’s wearing the slaver, yes?” Al said, grabbing my hands and yanking me out of the path of another spell. “He’ll get through. Your energies resonate as one.”

My fingers on the knot hesitated. Ivy. Could I save Ivy with this?

“Look out!” Al shouted, shoving me backward, and I fell, my breath knocked out of me.

Al was standing over me, shouting to the skies, and fingers scrabbling, I reached out for the circle I’d scraped in the dirt, still not having breathed. Rhombus, I thought, getting a slip of air in, and Al jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting left outside. Dizzy, I looked up. Newt was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, blood leaking from her ear as she sat on the ground and scooted backward to sit against a large rock.

“See!” she crowed, pointing. “I told you she hit me!”

Shaky, I sat up, moving a stone out from under my backside. Dali, too, was watching, standing in the middle of everything with his hands on his hips and a frown on his face as if nothing could touch him. Trent was ducking behind rocks as Ku’Sox pulverized them, each jump moving him closer. Trent’s charms were circling in my head, filling me with the need to do something, wild and demanding, drawing on me as needed to supplement his strength.

The demons weren’t helping. They weren’t hindering, either. Only the strongest could ensure the demons’ continued existence. I wanted it to be me.

“Trent!” I shouted, and he sprang for us. Ku’Sox took aim, then flinched when Bis dropped a rock on him. Snarling, the demon shifted his attention to Bis.

“No!” I shouted, helpless.

Bis spun, headed for the shelter of my bubble. Under him, Trent pounded over the rocks. Ku’Sox snarled, eyes on the sky as he wound up. Fixed on Bis, he didn’t see Dali stick his foot out, and the demon face-planted into the dusty stones.

Okay, maybe they had a favorite here, after all.

“Oh, sorry,” Dali said, getting between us and Ku’Sox to help the demon up, brushing him off and getting in his line of sight until Bis backwinged into the bubble, landing on my shoulder, his red eyes wide in excitement.

Trent was a moment behind, slipping through the protection bubble and sliding to a sudden, awkward halt inches from Al—far too close. Al smiled down at him with his thick, blocky teeth, and Trent smiled right back, more than a hint of deviltry in his green, green eyes. Trent was humming, and my thoughts hummed with him. I was alive with him, and it was glorious. Indescribable.