I hear the words Stay back! in my voice, but I’m not sure who said them. It doesn’t matter. I turn, searching for Raze where I left him. He’s crumpled unconscious in the dirt. A humanoid creature with goat legs sniffs at him curiously, and I rush forward, dagger and teeth bared. “Leave him alone!”

It scampers back as I run to Raze. I don’t stop glaring at the shadows, even as I reach down to feel if he’s still breathing. A lone imp flies so close I can see its tiny, sharp teeth and gleaming black eyes. I swipe at it with my dagger, snarling.

Raze’s chest rises and falls beneath my fingers. Not dead yet. But with the Unseelie creatures swarming and a bounty on the faerie living in my head, I don’t think we have long.

“Gossamer!” something shrieks, far away.

I stand over Raze, turning slowly. I can’t even feel my heart beating in my chest anymore. I can’t think, can’t feel. My mind is still all tangled with Gossamer’s, so woven together I can’t pull myself free. “You didn’t tell me you were an outlaw here, too.”

Then Gossamer is beside me, standing protectively at my back, as if he didn’t just try to kill me. “I was unaware. Things have changed in my absence.” His pale skin and hair glow faintly in the dark forest, but none of the other faerie creatures seem to be able to see him. They’re all swarmed around Briar’s body, filling the air with the sick tearing of flesh and crunching of bone.

My stomach turns. Something in the shape of a wolf lunges at me, and I strike blindly with my knife. I don’t stab it deep enough to kill it, but the burn of the iron sends it running back into the trees with its tail between its legs. Its yelp of pain sounds human.

I don’t have time, I don’t have time.

If Raze woke, we could run, but how far would we get? The faeries and faerie creatures know we’re here and, worse, they know we’re wanted.

At least, I am.

“About that deal,” Gossamer says.

My head spins as I ward off attack after attack with threatening waves of my knife. I could bargain with him again. The twisted part of myself that’s all mixed up with the faerie wants to bargain with him.

No, I tell myself. I can feel sweat starting to prick at my face. I want to survive. I want to tell Isolde the truth.

Gossamer grabs me by the shoulders and spins me around, plunging my knife into an oversized white raven diving at my back through the air. It falls with its claws and wings open. “Don’t lie to yourself.” He stands face-to-face with me, taking in the streaks of blood across my cheek. “There’s no shame in seeking power.”

Raze groans, drawing my eyes. Is he waking? He looks like he’s in pain, but I can’t see anything wrong with him.