I bear down, growling with the effort.
My mother stands from the boat.
She calls Simon’s name.
He looks at her, enraptured.
Distracted.
The vines slacken.
She takes the ruby from around her neck and holds it over the water. His brow furrows with confusion as an arrow flies through the air. With a hiss, it strikes the amulet dead in its center.
The gemstone shatters.
Scarlet fragments spin in slow motion, splinters of crimson crystal, each glittering facet catching the light of the stars.
With my hands still gripping the vine, still holding on for all I’m worth, I look across the shoreline toward the trees, where Rafe stands with Jude’s bow.
The ground trembles.
The night throbs like a heartbeat.
Golden thread spirals from the broken amulet.
It swirls around the starlit web and surges into Jude.
A flood of warmth rushes through me.
The air seems to vibrate with life.
And with a burst of dazzling light, Jude’s form sharpens with clarity. The power of it shoots through the vines that connect me to him, him to me. A tidal wave of love and life, no longer a weapon in Vorat’s hands, but a force so disruptive, it broke a curse that built an entire world.
The web snaps apart.
Simon screams.
His knees buckle.
The sky fractures.
The clock explodes.
The blast of it throws me off my feet.
My head cracks against stone.
Stars dance in my vision.
I clutch the back of my head, wet and warm with blood. Wincing, I stagger to my feet, my eyes sweeping the bank, panic clawing through my body as I search for Twig in the chaos. I spot him sprawled on the ground next to the pavilion.
Rafe pulls him to his feet and notches another arrow.
Simon thrashes in shallow water.
The empty rowboat spins across the pond.
“Mom!” I scream, as the wind howls and beasts emerge and the flock of winged creatures circle lower in the sky. One of them dives at Naomi as she drags an unconscious Emma away from the shore, its sharp talons extended.
