Then my ears rang with a loud report, and it was the Queen screaming. She let go of my arm and I scrambled back, my eyes going to Sabine, who had a firm grip on Anushka’s still smoking pistol. The ice coating everything in the room exploded, and the ground shook as the icy palace collapsed around us. The world shuddered. Everywhere I looked I saw layers of the same. A dozen sofas. A hundred Sabines. I lost my balance and fell, my empty stomach heaving.

The fairy hissed at us once, then staggered through the opening between worlds, the tear gone as quickly as it had appeared.

We were outside in the snow, not a hundred yards from the bridge over the river to the castle, which was obscured by the raging blizzard. I pulled up my sleeve to see what sort of injury she’d dealt me, but my skin was unmarked, only a memory of pain remaining. The fairy had caught us in an illusion or a dream, but not for a second did I doubt what had happened. Or the danger to Tristan if he stepped outside those walls. And he was coming this way.

Closing my eyes, I focused. Tristanthysium, do not leave the castle walls until we have the chance to talk. His outrage was immediate and fierce, but it was worth it to keep him safe.

“How did you know to do that?” I asked, letting Sabine help me to my feet.

“Tristan told Chris and me all sorts of things about them,” she replied. “That they could be harmed by iron or steel, but only if they were corpor… solid.” She made a face. “And that if we stood inside a steel circle or kept the metal against our skin, that we’d be able to see through their glamour, because their magic couldn’t affect us. When she started getting angry, I took hold of my gun, and the illusion fell away, and I saw you standing in the snow talking not to a woman, but a monster.”

Sabine scrubbed a hand across her eyes as though to wipe away the memory, and I could understand why. If those glimpses I’d had of fangs and claws were real, I could only imagine what she’d looked like in her entirety.

As if on cue, a chilling howl filled the air. Then another. And another. Those lupine creatures that had flanked her throne, with fangs as long as my hand. I’d only seen the pair of them, but judging from the howls, there were more. We needed to get behind the castle walls.

I met Sabine’s terrified gaze. “Run.”

Chapter 8

Cécile

Before we could take a step, three pony-sized wolves stepped out of the blizzard, blocking our path. Their white fur was misty and insubstantial, but their snarls were real enough.

“Back, back,” I hissed, dragging Sabine with me until we were up against an ironwork fence, her hands fumbling with the gun as she reloaded. Leveling the weapon, she fired at one of the creatures, but it passed through with no effect.