Maybe we can get back the same way we came. I recognize that thought when it flickers over his face, because it’s the same thought I’m having. The only difference is that I know where we are, and I’m paralyzed in fear.

Raze takes a long step forward, like he’s preparing to throw himself into the water, to dive in and swim until the water pulls him back to the Mortal Realm or his lungs explode.

“I wouldn’t let your little pet go in there if I were you,” Gossamer says lazily, leaning against a tall, silvery aspen tree.

“Raze, wait!”

He turns at my warning, jaw set with determination.

At the same exact second, a sound like breaking ice emerges from the ripples around his legs. Dozens of pale, not-quite-human hands break the surface all across the lake—reaching for him, begging him to come join them. Their nails are blackened by algae, and streaks of dark mold trail down their veins.

He lets out a surprisingly high-pitched scream, scrambling back to the shore so quickly he trips and lands at my feet. “What—what—where?” he chokes, breathless. The hands sink back down, leaving the lake as serene as a pool of liquid mercury. “What was that?”

I bite my lip and offer a hand down to him. “I...” I don’t want to admit it aloud, but he needs to know. “I think...”

Raze, used to this by now, waits for me to gather my thoughts, yanking off one saturated boot and turning it upside down to let a stream of water run out.

“I think I did it wrong,” I finally manage—in an impressively calm-sounding voice, if I do say so myself. “This...this is... It’s a...”

But I can’t make anything follow that. My voice scratches, stuck on the words. Maybe I shouldn’t have patted myself on the back so soon.

“A faerie realm?” Raze finishes for me, shaking water from his hair. Soaked with water, it takes on a deeper tone, like bronze. He’s taking this surprisingly well.

I nod, swallowing hard. Pushing my own dark strands of hair away from my face, shivering as the cold drops slide down my spine. “Isolde,” I get out. “And Olani.” It isn’t a question. It’s barely even a statement, but somehow, he understands.

“We’ll get back to them.” Raze’s hand twitches, then rests at his side. “Can’t you just make another portal?”

“Yes, let’s,” Gossamer adds. “Maybe if you offer me something tempting enough, I’ll make it to your preferred destination.” So he messed up the spell on purpose. Of course he did. I never trusted him, but in my desperation, I was still far too loose with my conditions.

“I can’t,” I tell Raze, trying to pretend I can’t hear the faerie. “I could... I could send us anywhere. In the middle of the sea, the middle of Leira’s camp. It’s too dangerous.”

And it would cost me dearly.

If our only choices are making a deal with Gossamer or wandering the Unseelie Realm forever, looking for a portal back, I’ll take my chances.