His eyes went impossibly wide and the hand without the gun flew to his chest. His tuxedo jacket flapped as the enchanted tornado encircled them, but Rory knew in that moment that Arthur could have walked straight through the tornado and come out unharmed, because he was right, Rory’s magic would never hurt him.

The tornado roared louder as Arthur’s shout cut across the driveway. “Close your eyes, Teddy!”

Rory shut his eyes automatically, trusting but not understanding, as Arthur whirled away—

And a gunshot split the air.

Rory hit the ground like a reflex, his tornado zipping straight up to the sky and disappearing into the clouds. Shingles and broken branches fell to the ground around them as he curled into himself, his arms automatically covering his head. He took a terrified breath and forced his eyes open.

In the midst of the destroyed grounds, Becker was crumpled across from him, unmoving.

The gun in Arthur’s hand was still smoking.

Arthur glanced over his shoulder at Rory, shoulders heaving. “Thank you, love,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

And then he was sprinting toward the driveway’s edge, where Ellis’s still-prone body lay.

Rory let out a breath, using the car to pull himself to his feet. The fighting was quieting. All of the guards seemed to either be unconscious or wearing their own cuffs. Several guns were floating in the air again, and Rory heard two of them cock.

“Next guard to twitch finds out how good my telekinetic aim is,” Jade said, her expression daring anyone to come closer.

Rory crossed the drive to where Gwen had gone to Ellis’s side. Arthur was there too, his face ghost-white as he watched Gwen help Ellis sit up with heartbreakingly gentle touches. She carefully wiped blood off Ellis’s face, and he turned and kissed her hand.

“Where are Zeppler and the Puppeteer?” he asked.

“Becker’s dead.” Arthur didn’t even sound like himself. “After what he made me do to Rory, I—” He swallowed hard. “His life was forfeit.”

Rory balled the fist with the Tempest Ring on it.

“Zeppler is at the foot of the stairs,” said Zhang. “Still paralyzed.”

“I want to see him,” Ellis said tightly.

Gwen helped him to his feet. Ellis leaned on her as the two of them led the way over to Zeppler, Arthur and Jade at their heels, and Rory and Zhang behind them.

Their group encircled Zeppler, who still lay on the ground in the exact same position they’d left him, his eyes fixed on the sky. Ellis’s wedding ring still glinted on his finger.

Gwen stared dispassionately down at Zeppler. “He wanted to unlock the Venom Dagger’s magic. He used us to try, put Ellis though the pain of choosing between Philippe’s life and mine.”