Bhardudlin screamed and collapsed.

Zak rolled free from the darkfae’s grip. Glowing red saber in hand, he jammed the point under Bhardudlin’s chin. Standing on the fae’s back, Ezra pushed his staff into the bleeding wound. Aaron and Kai stuck the tips of their swords into Bhardudlin’s sides.

“Well,” Zak panted, “would you care to continue our negotiations?”

The darkfae snarled softly. “What would you have of me, druid?”

“The enslavement relic in exchange for your life.”

Bhardudlin hissed. “So be it.”

Dragging one arm across the ground, he clenched his huge hand. Ebony ripples danced over his fingers, then he opened his fist. A small, delicate orb of silver threads sat on his palm.

“Tori,” Zak said. “Pass that to me.”

I minced closer, overwhelmed by the fae’s monstrous size even as he lay on the ground. I plucked the sphere from his bloody gray palm and handed it to Zak.

Keeping his saber at the fae’s throat, he examined it. “It’s real.”

“I have met my end of our bargain,” Bhardudlin growled, desperation in his baritone slur.

Zak handed the sphere back to me. “Yes, you have.”

He lifted his sword from the darkfae’s neck—then slammed it back down. Red light flared across the blade as it tore through flesh and bone. Bhardudlin writhed, a furious wet groan wheezing from his mouth before he went still.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

Zak opened his hand and the scarlet saber dissolved. “He knew I would kill him, though he was hoping I might be stupid enough not to.” He bared his teeth. “He chose the wrong druid to make his pet.”

Ezra slid off the fae’s body, stumbled several paces away, then sank to the ground. I took an alarmed step toward him, only to falter as Aaron and Kai both dropped, landing heavily on their butts as though they couldn’t stand any longer.

Zak walked to Ezra, pulled him up, and half dragged him to the far end of the clearing. As he trudged back to get Kai, I pulled myself together and hurried to Aaron. I helped him over to Ezra, where he immediately sat, breathing heavily.

Olivia had recovered from her unfortunate encounter with a flying tree branch. She sat at the edge of the clearing, one hand pressed to her head as she stared at the slain darkfae.

Leaving her, I found Aaron’s and Kai’s swords among the leaf litter. Zak had deposited Kai with the other two, and the electramage was slumped against a log, eyes closed and face shining with perspiration. After leaning their swords against a tree trunk, I anxiously scanned them—wheezing, sweating, eyes closed, faces pale.

“Guys?” I quavered.

“Give them a few minutes,” Zak said, rubbing his hair. When he pulled his hand away, slimy strings of Bhardudlin’s saliva stuck to his fingers. For a second, I thought he might barf on the spot—I almost did—but he merely wiped his hand on his pants, then added, “They’re done.”

“Done what?”

Something like respect gathered in his eyes. “When a mage pushes to his limit, the price is steep. This is the cost of Elementaria.”

I turned to the guys, taking in their exhaustion. In a few minutes, they’d gone from full strength to trembling fatigue like they’d just finished a twelve-hour Ironman triathlon.

“The only class that places a higher demand on the mythic is Demonica,” Zak murmured, “and that’s a very different price.”

“What about you?” I asked, clutching the spindly silver relic Zak had yet to take back. “You seem okay.”

In answer, he held out his tattooed forearms. The colorful runes were dark, and three had disappeared, leaving empty circles on his skin. “The cost of this magic was paid by the fae who made it. Lallakai is exhausted. So are the vargs. Hoshi used what little magic she had to protect you.”

I pressed a hand to my chest. “She did something … the darkfae’s attack went right through me.”

“She shifted you into the fae demesne.”

“She what?”

“Fae have their own world … realm … reality. Whatever.” Zak limped to his duffle bag and pulled out a beer-bottle-sized vial of purple potion. “Some fae can pull a human in with them, which makes the human incorporeal in this realm—and invisible to non-Spiritalis mythics.”

I remembered, back at the art gallery, when Lallakai had swept her wings around him and he’d vanished.

“Huh.” I pointed at the bottle. “Is that a vitality potion?”

“Yes. It’ll get the mages back on their feet. We need to move down to the beach so I can set up the—”

An ear-shattering blast burst through the forest—a gunshot.

For an instant that lasted far longer, I couldn’t understand it. Gunfire? Here? Now? In the park?

Three more shots rang out and Zak pitched forward. He hit the ground, blood misting the air above his back, and the potion bottle rolled out of his limp hand. The ringing echo blared in my ears, shock freezing me in place.

Zak made an awful wet rasp as he struggled to breathe.

The mages recovered before I did. Aaron and Kai lurched forward, scrambling to stand.

“Stop right there.”

The cold command slid out of the darkness. A man appeared, his black pistol pointed at the mages—a real gun, not a paintball one. Three other men strode out of the trees after him. Even more came out of the darkness, surrounding us. Several held guns, while others wielded bladed weapons or sorcery artifacts.

I didn’t move. Neither did the mages, who hadn’t even managed to stand.

The first man, his gun trained on Aaron, walked to Zak and nudged him with a boot. The druid didn’t stir. Using his foot, the man shoved Zak onto his back. He rolled limply, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.

“He’s younger than I expected,” the man remarked, studying the druid. “Interesting. His bounty is all the more impressive for his age. A shame he’s worth more dead.”

He turned to me and held out his hand, palm up. “The relic, young lady.”

I didn’t move. These men could only be from Red Rum—but how had they found us? How had they known we were here? The way they had snuck up on us like this, their arrival timed perfectly with Bhardudlin’s defeat, seemed too well planned to be a lucky break on their part.

We were surrounded, and Aaron, Kai, and Ezra were exhausted from battling Bhardudlin. Zak was down, unable to help.

He was down. Not dead. I refused to believe he was dead. He was the Ghost, the most feared rogue in the city. He wouldn’t die from something as lame as getting shot in the back.

“The relic,” the man repeated.

Hand trembling, I placed the silver sphere in his waiting palm.

“Excellent. Now listen carefully. If you speak, we will shoot a mage. If you attempt to summon the sea lord to your defense, we will shoot all three mages. If you act suspicious in any way, we’ll kill them. Do you understand?”

I nodded faintly. My heart raced so fast I could feel it throbbing in my neck.

An agonized wail made me jump. Olivia had clambered to her feet, tears streaking her face.

“I did what you wanted!” she cried, stumbling toward the rogues. “Tell me where Odette is!”

A mythic strode over and grabbed her arm, holding her back.

The leader of the rogues waved a hand, the motion sharp with annoyance. “She’s of no more use to us. Get her out of here.”

My chest tightened as the man dragged Olivia into the trees. When had she betrayed us? Earlier today? Yesterday? Before Aaron had shared our plans with her?

Jaw tight, I focused on the Red Rum leader. He was stocky, scarcely taller than me, but thick with muscle. He held a gun, and sorcery artifacts hung in rows from his belt. I wanted to scream insults in his face, but I didn’t dare make a sound.

Aaron, Kai, and Ezra sat stiffly, guns and weapons trained on them. What could they do? Nothing. There was nothing. Even Hoshi had used her tiny bit of magic, so she couldn’t make me disappear. We were out of magic and out of allies.

“Which one?” the Red Rum leader asked, gesturing at the mages.

A rogue pointed at Kai. “He protected her last night.”

“Bring him, then.” The leader bounced the orb in his palm. “Now, young lady, we will head down to the beach. It is time to transfer command of the fae lord to us.”

As a man dragged Kai up and put a gun to his head, the Red Rum leader smiled.

“And if you resist in any way, this mage will die first.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Staring at the mud between my hiking boots, I couldn’t bear to look up.

I didn’t want to see the elaborate ritual circle carved into the surrounding foreshore. Or the witch standing in the inner circle nearby, waiting to receive the fae bond. Or Kai on his knees with a gun to the back of his head, execution style.

I didn’t want to see the huge luxury yacht anchored far out in the bay, lit up like a party boat, its deck lined with people-sized shadows—elite members of Red Rum observing the spectacle and waiting to meet their new sea lord guardian.

The deep chant of four sorcerers filled my ears, and that I couldn’t block out. The lines of the ritual circle glowed purple. There was nothing I could do to stop it.