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Cerridwen seemed healed. There wasn’t even blood on her clothes anymore. The magic that she’d tapped into had not only turned Fox’s kitchen into an arboretum but cleaned and mended her clothes as well. She stepped back without hesitation. I saw no grimace or limp in her movement.
Relieved, I shot to my feet and swept her up in my arms. I pressed my face to her chest and breathed in her scent. Her normal herbal smell had been overwhelmed by the untamed magic. It reminded me of ozone and gold.
“May I get down now?” Tal asked from up in the tree now poking out of Foxglove’s roof.
I pointed a finger up at him. “No. You will hang there until I see fit to let you down.”
Tal opened his mouth and closed it again. He crossed his arms over his chest as if accepting his due punishment. Beside him, Foxglove roared insolently until Cerri waved a hand and a branch stuffed his mouth and cut off his words. Tal chuckled.
Cerri sighed and let her head fall against my shoulder. “This was exhausting.”
Something about her had changed. When I set her down, I leaned back and studied her. Though her hair was still white and her skin was pale—the effects of Beryl’s Unseelie curse—there was a rainbow glow clinging to her skin. She glimmered like a fire opal laden with untapped magic.
“What happened?” I asked, tucking a curl behind her ear.
I stared at my mortal fingers and wondered how she’d been able to overcome divine transmutation magic so easily. I shouldn’t be able to touch her this way, not after Fox stabbed me with such a powerful blade.
“None of this is real,” Cerri said.
Stunned, I leaned back.
She gave a solemn nod. “I figured out where the untamed magic comes from. It’s the power of dreams.”
Brow furrowed, I cupped her cheek and tried to get her to look at me. “What does that mean?”
My heart thumped nervously. An anxiety brewed in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong, and she wouldn’t tell me. The sorrow pinching the corners of her eyes and tightening her mouth didn’t bode well.
17
CERRI
Iwas afraid to wake up.
Had I caught everyone in a dream at just the right time? Or would I wake to find my lover trapped in the form of a spider? Would Tal still be caught in the throes of Beryl’s nightmare crown?
Using my untamed magic to spin a dream had been smart thinking, especially on the fly. It’d brought everyone into a realm where I could control every little thing that happened. If I’d been even a second late, though, then it could have been for nothing.
The untamed magic came from the realm of dreams. It gave me the power of infinite possibility so long as I could harness it correctly in the waking world. Here, the world belonged to me. It did whatever I wanted with only a thought, and nothing more.
That’s how I’d bypassed divine magic to turn Rhoan back into his mortal form. He glanced back at the blade sitting on the ground. It was still red with his blood, though it’d dried and dulled since Foxglove had stabbed him with it.
I rolled my eyes up towards the two men caught in the branches of my tree. My dream world was beautiful, so lush and full of life, however the sight of Foxglove made me want to retch.
He glared down at me as if I’d ruined everything good in his life. I wanted to tell him that’d been his own damn fault, but I knew he wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say. Fox wanted control at all costs, that even meant controlling the narrative when he failed. He would not listen to anyone if it meant taking blame for what’d happened today.
I bent and picked up the bloodied blade. The knowledge of what it was and where it’d come from flowed through me and blossomed in my mind once I touched it. I gaped down at the divine artifact in my hand and spun to look back at Rhoan.
Man, Ireallyhoped I’d caught them in the dream in time. I had no idea how I was going to turn Rhoan back into a man if he’d been cursed with the same divine magic that’d turned Arachne into a spider. I might even have to ask Addie for help this time. She did have a leaf from the tree of the world in her possession still.
That meant she could alter fate again.
Rhoan tilted his head warily. His black hair swung in the light now streaming through the broken walls. Caution lowered his brows. He stepped up to me, but all I could think of was the lengths I’d go to have him back again.
Beryl knew that this altercation would escalate. She’d anticipated Foxglove and how awfully he would react to even the concept of failure. If Tal didn’t kill me, then Foxglove absolutely would.
Lips twisted in frustration, I wished she would outright fight me. This underhanded sabotage was getting exhausting. I knew that’s what she wanted. Beryl’s plan was to tire me out so thoroughly that I couldn’t fight back when she finally fought me outright. It was going to come to a head soon.
“Cerridwen,” Rhoan said softly.
