“So you don’t have any way to go back to the Otherworld other than through the portal?” Croi asks.

The pixie nods sadly.

Croi opens the book and looks through the table of contents before finding the entry on Roods. They are filed under “Dangerous” and also “Fatal.” The book notes that Roods prevent non-kin from entering the Otherworld. Since she is currently in an in-between phase, the Roods don’t recognize her, thus their actions earlier.

“Huh.” Croi looks at the thin saplings who seem barely strong enough to slap flies. “You should be able to move past them since you are considered kin,” she says to the pixie.

Tinder shakes her head. “My magick is almost gone. Going through the portal by myself would extinguish me.”

“I guess I will save your life again,” Croi replies, and looks at the book. “To move past Roods, see the spell ‘Distill the Night into a Cloak of Darkness,’ ” she reads out loud. She flips the pages to the spell, wondering what it will ask for. To her surprise, there are only two instructions.

1. 1. Wait for darkness to fall.
2. 2. Recite these words three times immediately after darkness falls.

The Cloak of Darkness doesn’t just hide kin from view but also hides their essence. The Roods won’t be able to see or sense anyone wearing the Cloak of Darkness. The only problem is that Croi can’t read the language the spell is written in. She tries many times until, with no small amount of frustration, she sets the book aside.

Ask the pixie to read it.

“Can you read the spell?” Croi asks out loud. Tinder peers at the words before nodding cautiously.

“But I have no magick,” she says, her head drooping.

“If I give you my magick, could you?” Croi looks down at her hands, and the magicks in her speed up, coiling around her body at dizzying speeds.

Tinder looks startled. “How would you give me your magick?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Yeah. If I can use your magick, I can cast the spell.” Tinder looks wary. “But there’s no way you can give me your magick. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Leave it to me.” Croi affects an ease she doesn’t feel. “Let’s wait for the night. Are you hungry?” She gives the pixie a bit more of the candy grass still remaining in her pack. As the pixie eats, she speaks about her life in the pixie meadow she was born in. Croi learns about the pixie’s friends, her many enemies and rivalries. Tinder talks about her favorite sibling and her least favorite brother. Croi listens quietly, the shifting time hiding her envy.

Someday, we will have a family too.

“Do you think we’ll ever be that lucky?” Croi communicates to her other self with a thought.

Why not?

For some reason, Croi thinks of Irial at this moment and wonders if he will be a part of her family, then shakes her head to dislodge thoughts of the fae prince.