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Taly rose to her feet, still staring at him blankly. “I’ll come with you,” she whispered, “if you answer one question.”

“Anything you want, little mage,” he said, still holding out his hand. He was so close. All he needed was a physical connection to dampen her magic, and then it would be easy to get her out of here, out of this place before the Queen could interfere.

Her lips twitched. “What’s in your pocket?”

Something else snapped against his skin. Then again. And again. Over and over in quick succession.

He realized too late that his legs had stopped responding. And when he tried to summon his aether and break free, his magic felt like sludge in his veins, vague and unresponsive.

The girl was smiling now, and that hollow look had been replaced with something cruel and deadly.

Panic edged in.

Still heaving at his aether, he began to thrash, launching every bit of raw strength he possessed at the coil of phantom chains that were starting to tighten around him.

No.

His arms were fixed in place.

No, no, no.

Even his lungs felt tight.

There were too many spells all bunching and tangling together, and the panic dulled his wits, making it hard to think. He couldn’t pick his way through the web. He couldn’t find his way out.

“Bitch,” he rasped. Even his vocal cords were starting to become stiff and unyielding.

The girl’s smile widened, the only warning she gave before her aether erupted in a bright flash of light. It gilded the stones, the plants, even the vibrant blue of the leaves. And then faded in an instant, leaving only a soft shimmer that coated her skin.

She took a step, then another, glowing like freshly forged steel.

He tried once more to throw off the magical bonds that chained him in place, letting out a low whine when he failed. Something tightened—but not enough to ease the fear, to let in that darkness that came with being completely frozen in time. He had been trapped in a time mage’s thrall before. He knew that they could control pain and consciousness, playing with a man’s timeline like a child might play with a bit of string. And if he could still see, still feel pain, it was only because she wanted him to see and feel. She had left him his mind, left that small part of him outside the influence of her magic, because she wanted him to witness the punishment she had chosen.

The boy, he tried to say.The boy is safe.But he couldn’t make his mouth form the words that might’ve saved his life.

She stopped in front of him, still smiling through the glow of aether. “Let’s talk now, you and I?”

It was at that moment that Vaughn began to pray.

Taly circled the man, watching impassively as he tried to get free. His magic writhed, beating against her mind like a hammer and doing him very little good as the enchantment continued to creep up his body like frost on glass.

Her aether licked at her skin, content to finally be free. She could feel its giddiness, sparkling and effervescent, bubbling through her blood like champagne.

Soon this man would be dead. They would repay blood for blood.

Taly grinned as she completed another turn, still monitoring the spells. She’d set a trap for this man, knowing just how much magic he commanded and just how little she could do against him in a fair fight. Any individual spell she threw at him would’ve been easily rebuffed, so she’d decided to get a little more… creative.

Taly picked one of the time crystals he’d collected from his pocket and tossed it into the air. She’d left thirty-five crystals, all poorly concealed with sloppily penned runes, the active spell still half-tethered to her own magic. Novice work. And even though it had pained her to make suchinaccurate representations of the runes she’d been practicing for months on end, to leave that nearly-imperceptible trickle of aether that would lead him straight to her—it had paid off. Because Vaughn had picked up every crystal she’d dropped and disengaged the spells, never thinking to look for what was lurking underneath.

Taly tilted her head back, letting that glittering rage stretch and flow beneath her skin. It had been difficult given the time constraints, and she’d never have been able to pull it off without the fairies helping her lead Vaughn around in a circle. But despite the odds, she’d successfully managed to enchant thirty-five crystals, each one layered with no less thanthreeenchantments.

The first—something basic and easily disarmed. Little more than a decoy to hide the second enchantment—a slowing spell, all identical and seemingly dormant. She had intended for Vaughn to find the first spell, maybe even the second. But the third enchantment… it was such a tiny little spell, barely noticeable. And its only purpose was to moderate the release of that second spell.

She was the spider, and Vaughn was the fly. And by the time he had finally sensed the web that was slowly tightening around him, it was too late.

“You know what your problem is, Vaughn?” She stopped in front of him, enjoying the way her aether flickered in those yellow eyes. He was nearly frozen now. He couldn’t even blink. “You’re arrogant. You let your prejudices blind you, and you never think to look deeper. You underestimated me back in Vale because you thought I was just some pathetic little human, andyou underestimated me today because you thought I was just some pathetic little mage.”

Taly pulled the dagger from his waist and held it up to the light. Snowdrop—it was still just as beautiful as the day Skye had given it to her on the front steps of the manor. A birthday present made just for her.