“Hence why this memory reversal is important enough to risk death, right?”

She seemed unsure. I couldn’t blame her, but like our goblin friend, she didn’t try to talk me out of it. We were all adults capable of making our own decisions, and it was nice that I didn’t have to explain my reasoning to them. They got it. And I sensed that both of them would have made the same decision.

By the time Gaster returned, Sam and I had salvaged twenty books, the mostly undamaged tomes which appeared to be about one of the great fae wars, were stacked neatly nearby. “Oh, thank you,” Gaster cried, hurrying up, his arms full of parchment and jars. “It’s beyond devastating what we’ve lost here. Priceless knowledge from ten worlds and thousands of years.”

No lie, that almost made me throw up. Shadow Beast had a lot to answer for, even if he hadn’t been quite in his right mind when it had happened.

“Now, are you sure?” Gaster checked one last time as he started to spread out his items on the ground.

“I’m ready,” I said with conviction.

I really was because the alternative was walking away from this world without all of the answers I’d sought and returning to Torin and Torma. Hard freaking pass, people.

“I’m going to need you to lie in this circle,” Gaster said, and I realized that in mere seconds, he’d managed to trace out a very complex-looking circle of images and symbols in white chalk. “This is called a spell sphere,” he explained, “and it will protect you and us from whatever”—he cleared his throat—“might emerge in the destruction of this bind on your memories.”

Ominous, but not surprising. Gaster didn’t strike me as a being prone to hysterics, and there was no hiding the genuine worry in his voice as he spoke about this procedure. The spell sphere was an excellent choice.

Sam reached out and grabbed my hand as I moved past. “You’ve got this,” she whispered. “I know whatever is thrown your way, you’ll catch it and throw it back even harder.”

I returned her squeeze. “Thank you.”

Our eyes met, and while she looked worried, the worry was considerably less than the unwavering confidence in her gaze. She thought I could do this, and I was determined to prove her right.

When I was ready, I stretched out in the circle, finding it the perfect size for me. A tingle of power zapped over my skin, fast, like electricity. Gaster continued to sketch images around me, and as he closed in the final sections of the spell sphere, the energy settled across me.

“The sphere is complete,” Gaster said, his voice muffled, like a literal barrier existed between us. “Brace yourself, Mera Callahan.”