The words strangled in my throat. Now everything made sense. This wasn’t a rebellion. It was a birth.
“He’s just created an army of Spirits, which means…”
He will soon lose his humanity.
A roar split the silence. The confectionery reared. Its walls cracked, its foundations trembling beneath the wave of that howl.
“Stop!” I screamed.
With a screech of wood and iron, the confectionery obeyed. Its chimney exhaled one last breath of hissing steam. Beyond, the Cursed were waiting. None dared step toward Arawn. Some watched, ready to crawl to a new master. Others hunched low, as if they knew one step too close would crush them. Until suddenly, their heads all snapped up, their gazes fixed on one single point.
Me.
The first one lunged. The others followed.
I slammed the window shut and bolted. The stairs flew beneath my feet as I snatched my broom mid-stride. The front door’s handle rattled violently, the Cursed pounding the wood, claws searching for a gap. The roots of the confectionery groaned under the strain, holding fast, but they would not last forever.
I prayed Arawn’s magic would hold just long enough.
“This is your plan?” Aignan squeaked, his voice an octave higher, fur bristling, horn lowered. “We’re all going to die! We can’t fight an army of Cursed!”
“You’re not going to fight,” I ordered, gripping the broom tighter. “I want you to protect the confectionery. Stay inside. I’ll fly to Arawn and remind him who he is before it’s too late.”
“Wait. Take this.” Yeun drifted closer, his flame flickering smaller than usual. His breath released a glittering dust that made me sneeze. “Fairy dust brings luck. It’s all I can give you. We are not fighters.”
“Thank you, Yeun. You’ve already done more than enough.”
Outside, the Cursed were still climbing the walls, clinging to the confectionery like living sludge. I swung astride my broom, tugging the skirt of my dress into place, checking that I had both Arawn’s heart and its antidote. I had the feeling that the closer I came to him, the more his heart would respond, searching for its host.
“Éclair, open the door. I’m forcing my way through.”
Éclair straightened, his head brushing the ceiling. With a gravelly groan, he scooped me into his palm, broom and all, wrapping me like a cocoon.
“You want to come with me?” I asked, eyes wide.
Chouquette leaped, ready to follow, but Éclair caught her by a tail and set her gently back down, patting her head the way one calms a child.
“Wait,” Aignan said, his eyes darting across the room. “Can I say something before you go?”
We all turned toward him.
“You proved to me that… even being just an animal… or something close… I can matter. You gave me a family. I…” He sighed, then jabbed his horn into a chair. “Whatever! I’m terrible at this stuff. Now go save your human before he forgets himself completely.”
I nodded softly. “We’ll be back. Take care of yourselves.”
The door exploded into splinters. The Cursed who rushed inside were shoved back by Éclair. He closed his massive fingers around me, lifted me like a doll, and hurled me into the air.
“Su-gaaaaar!” he roared.
The wind screamed in my ears as I tumbled backward, my broom sliding beneath me just in time. The Cursed swarmed the gaping doorway of the confectionery, but Éclair planted himself there like a living wall.
Chouquette, who had never obeyed a single order in her life, sprang onto his shoulder and leaped into the fray. Her jaw unhinged, gaping wider than it should have. She swallowed a cluster of Cursed whole, bones and flesh crushed in one bite.
Those that tried to climb Éclair were swept aside by carnivorous flower-stalks sprouting from his arms, while the mushrooms on his skull tore themselves free, bouncing into battle like a ravenous little army.
The sight twisted my stomach. I gripped my broom tighter, knuckles white.
“Please,” I whispered. “Survive. All of you.”
