“No, I tried. Doug’s body is definitely the host. I think my magic is just acting as some kind of buffer between them.” She paces, pushing her hair back as she thinks. “Right now, he seems able to control it. But if we do manage to untangle our magic, Gaia’s power—on top of all the power he’s already taken—would probably kill him. Chronos’s and Ananke’s magic don’t seem capable of coexisting peacefully within one host. It’s like they’re fighting inside him. Gaia’s magic is . . . calm when it’s attached to mine. The presence of my earth magic seems to have disrupted some of the tension between them. But all that power should be wreaking havoc inside him. If part of me wasn’t in there, he’d probably explode,” she says, rubbing her forehead.

It feels like there’s something she’s not saying.

“So what now?” I ask in a strained voice as she comes to stand in front of me. She takes my hands and holds them between us.

“He won’t hurt me, Jack,” she says quietly. “He can’t. But that doesn’t mean he won’t hurt you.”

“So, what . . . ,” I sputter, “I’m just supposed to walk away and leave you here with him?”

“What choice do we have? Do you think I want this, Jack?” she cries, the words breaking. “Do you think for one minute that if I could come up with a way out of this, I wouldn’t run out that door with you right now?”

I take her face in my hands. They’re shaking with the need to pick her up and carry her out of here. “That’s a good plan. A great plan. Run with me. We’ll keep moving. If we move far enough, fast enough, he won’t find you. I won’t let him.”

“This isn’t like before, Jack! It’s not just our lives we’re putting at risk anymore. Gaia’s magic, Lyon’s, Ananke’s . . . Doug has taken all of it. And he can’t control it, not alone! The world has fallen into chaos since he killed Lyon and Gaia, and it’s only getting worse. If I leave, he’ll come after me. You know he will. And what then? What about the hundreds of other Seasons who are lost out there right now? What about the hundreds who are trapped in here, waiting for the ceilings to cave in? This is as much our fault as it is Doug’s. We started this! And now we have to face the consequences of our choices!”

“We’ll find a way! I’ll find a way! I’ll come up with some other plan. You know I will.”

“There’s no time!”

“I’m not leaving!”

“Neither am I!” I know this tone. This set of her jaw when she’s made up her mind about something.