“Likewise.” I wiped my nose with a handkerchief. “The world will seem a much duller place without you two, and infinitely less alliterative.”

Vincent smiled, and I knew it was time. They lay next to each other on the floor, Tristan standing in the shadows of a corner, his face revealing none of his anxiety. He gave me a slight nod, and I began.

Neither twin made so much as a peep as the blood began to rise from their skin, grimaces the only sign of the intense pain they were feeling. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and though it was cowardly, I closed my eyes. I felt it the moment they changed, my hands falling into nothingness. Victoria would still be there, but would Vincent? Was there enough left of his mind to maintain his existence without a mortal body holding it together?

No one spoke, and with my heart in my throat, I opened my eyes.

Victoria sat in front of me, her eyes wide as she watched the mist of Vincent’s form fade and drift. “Please,” she whispered. “Please don’t leave me, brother.”

A hand gripped mine, and I cast a sideways glance at Tristan, who was kneeling with me in the twins’ blood. “Come on, Vincent,” he said. “You can do this.”

I held my breath, and then slowly, improbably, Vincent solidified. He turned his head to his sister. “Victoria?”

A sob tore from her lips, and she flung her arms around her brother’s shoulders. Tristan’s hand relaxed against mine, and it wasn’t until I felt the dull ache in my fingers that I realized how tightly he’d been holding it. Vincent was himself again, but the moment was bittersweet, because we were still losing them.

Reluctantly, I handed the twins the last of my store of Élixir, watching sadly as they drank it.

A tear opened behind them, the smell of summer filling my laboratory.

“We have to go,” Victoria said. “He’s calling us.” They rose. “Goodbye, my friends,” she said, then to me, “Thank you.”

I nodded, holding Tristan’s hand tight. And then the twins were gone.

We were both were silent for a long time, then Tristan said, “Get cleaned up, and then let’s go for a ride. There is something I need to do.”

Tristan’s horsemanship had improved in the time he’d spent with Chris, and he rode with almost reckless speed, trusting that I’d keep up. He kept to the Ocean Road, slowing to a trot just before we reached the bridge spanning the rock fall. Sliding off his horse, he waited until I was on the ground and silently tied up our mounts. Then he took my hand, and led me down to the entrance to Trollus.

I hadn’t been back since Tristan and I had fled, but he had. Often. The magic holding up the mountain was his once more, the Builder’s Guild all departed to Arcadia. The stone tree, which Thibault had very nearly completed for him, was hidden in the darkness of the cavern.