“How did you… I mean, how did you know that would work? The Sword and the spell… I can’t believe I’m not dead. Like,deaddead.”
“You have Judgment to thank for that,” she says. “The only thing he was good for.”
“How so?”
“I slit his throat. It should’ve killed him—he went down—but after a few minutes, he returned to his body like it never happened.Returnedbeing the key word. I realized the Sword must’ve driven his essence out. It was temporary, but it gave me the idea.”
“I’m not following. You stabbed me, but you didn’t drive my essence out. The opposite, actually.”
“I drove thedarkessence out. My hope was that in the time it would take him to return, I could reunite yourrealsoul with your body.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes. “Yourhope? You mean, you weren’t totally sure this would work?”
“Well, it’s imprecise magick, bringing the guy you love back from the nearly-dead.” Returning my smile, she shrugs. It’s adorable. I’m a goner.
“I’m glad it worked. I still don’t totally understand it, but I’m grateful.”
“Basically, in those few minutes where you were just a body without a soul, I healed your wounds and undid the magick Judgment and Chariot used to fuck you up in the first place. So when I called you back, you were free to return and be… you know.Youagain.”
“I felt it. Your magick. Your love. They pulled me back.”
She places her hand on my chest, palm flat against the spot where she stabbed me. “Does anything hurt?”
I grimace. “Only where your knee is pressing against my—”
“Oh, shit! I’m sorry!”
“Don’t be. I missed you. Everything about you. Especially your terrible singing voice.”
“Such a romantic.” Stevie laughs and rolls her beautiful blue eyes. Then, in a whisper as soft as the breeze, “You’re back.”
“I’m back.” I tighten my hands in her hair, drawing her close. “I love you. And I swear to you, Starla Milan, I will never leave your side again. I—”
“Anotherunworthypromise made, another unworthy promise broken.” The words come sharp and sudden, a dark shadow sweeping over us both.
We sit up in a flash, and the monster comes into view.
Blood-stained robes.
A cruel grin full of sharp teeth.
Dark Judgment looms over us, the Wand clutched in his hand.
Before we can even scramble to our feet, he raises the Wand and hits us with a shockwave of dark magick. The world bends around us, sucking us into the vortex, tearing us apart once more.
Twenty-Two
STEVIE
It feels like an eternity before I can breathe or see again, and when I finally suck in that first deep breath and open my eyes, I’m kneeling in the holly thicket, gazing up into the black mouth of the druid’s spiral cave.
Mist surrounds me like a death shroud.
Gone is the burning meadow. Gone are the armies of Eastman’s mages.
My Princesses gave me strength and magick to fight my way through campus, but like all magick, even they eventually faded.
Here, there is only me, the sound of my ragged heartbeat like a drum in my ears.
