“Rachel!” Ceri cried. She fell into me, dragging me out of the broken circle. I pushed at her, too depressed to try to get away. It was coming. Al was going to fill me with his force, making me feel his thoughts, turning me into a copper-top battery that could make his tea and do his dishes. The first of my helpless tears dribbled out, but I couldn’t find the will to hate myself for them. I knew I should be crying. I had gambled my life to put Piscary away and lost.

“Rachel! Please!” Ceri pleaded, her grip on my arm hurting as she tried to drag me. My damp feet made a squeaking noise, and I pushed at her, trying to get her to stop.

A red bubble of ever-after popped into existence where Al had pinged out. The air pressure violently shifted, and both Ceri and I clasped our hands to our ears.

“Damn it all to heaven and back!” Al swore, his velvet green frock open and in disarray. His hair was wild and his glasses were gone. “You did everything right!” he shouted, gesturing violently. “I’ve got your aura. You’ve got mine. Why can’t I reach you through the lines!”

Ceri knelt behind me, her arm protectively about me. “It didn’t work?” she quavered, pulling me back a little more. Her wet finger traced a quick circle about us.

“Do I look like it worked?” he exclaimed. “Do I look happy to you?”

“No,” she breathed, and her circle expanded about us, black-smeared but strong. “Rachel,” she said, giving me a squeeze. “You’re going to be okay.”

Al went still. Deathly quiet, he turned, his boots making a soft sound against the flooring. “No, she isn’t.”

My eyes widened at his frustrated anger. Oh God. Not again.

I stiffened as he tapped a line and sent it crashing into me. With it came a whisper of his emotion, satisfied and anticipatory. Fire coursed through me, and I screamed, pushing Ceri away. Her bubble burst in a glittering sensation of hot needles, adding to my agony.

Curled into a fetal position, I frantically thought the word, Tulpa, slumping in relief as the torrent coursed through me and settled in the sphere in my head. Panting, I slowly pulled my head up. Al’s confusion and frustration filled me. My anger grew until it overshadowed his emotions.

Al’s thoughts in mine shifted to stark surprise. Vision blurring as what I was seeing conflicted with what my brain said was true, I stumbled to my feet. Most of the candles were out, knocked over to make puddles of wax and scenting the air with smoke. Al felt my defiance through our link, and his face turned ugly when my pride for having learned to store energy seeped into him. “Ceri…” he threatened, his goat eyes narrowing.