Anything, I promised him. I might as well have said Everything. I can already feel myself slipping away. I’ll never have the chance to reconcile with Isolde, to make her laugh again.

But maybe Raze will live.

Gossamer seems almost disappointed at how quickly I give up, and his hold on our limbs loosens a little.

Suddenly, I realize I’m not ready to go. I’m not ready to give up my mind or my magic. I’m not ready to stop fighting. For this one fleeting moment, we’re equals.

This time, when Gossamer twines together his magic, my magic, and the magic of the forest, I pay attention. I feel the moment his power flows through our hands, weaving the portal into the air.

I drop my iron knife and catch it by the blade.

Pain shoots through my hand and up our arm as the cold metal bites through my palm.

The iron cuts deep, and Gossamer starts to lose his hold. I can feel his anger and betrayal, but that only makes it easier for the iron to banish him from my body. My grip tightens on the dagger, and with each second of pain, there’s also relief. It’s too late to stop his magic, though. It runs through me, pouring from my fingertips, until I’m wielding it without him.

Suddenly, even though it’s impossible for a mortal to create a portal, I know how to do this.

I have never felt power like this before.

The portal starts to shimmer beneath me in the discarded leaves under my feet.

Gossamer fights back, making our shoulders twitch and our head snap back as we battle, but he’s already lost. I grip the iron tighter. Blood runs over my palm. It drips, hot and dark, into the soil.

Faerie teeth snap at us.

Raze is just awake enough to fight, trying to get a swarm of imps off while still sweating and shaking. They cling to his clothes, sinking teeth into every exposed inch of skin.

I need to see Isolde again.

My hands keep moving, spinning the enchantment.

Seelie, you fool, Gossamer screams in my head, furious and betrayed. His voice is fading. You’ve doomed us both. Your mortal body can’t control this much magic. You’ll die. We—

I push harder, dragging his magic from its source. Letting it run over me and within me and spark in the air. It builds up painfully, and for a breathless moment, I’m terrified that Gossamer is right: I can’t control this.

I need to see Isolde again.

I’ve almost got it, but not quite. I can feel the magic slipping through my fingers, the exact formation of the portal eluding me. But I refuse to let go. The thought of saving my sister isn’t enough. I need something else.

I reach in my mind for the firedrake egg. Its magic is still encased in the shell, still dormant, but it could be anything. At Raze’s side, it could save us all. With Leira, it could doom us. But it’s more than that. It’s a living, breathing creature, and I am going to rescue it so it can’t go through everything that happened to Raze.