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Through someone else’s eyes—someone far away and running to get to her—she saw everything.

The dark clouds rolled back, and the sky healed. The stars dimmed, yielding to the soft glow of long-awaited dawn.

And Taly fell through it—through that first blush of morning, golden wisps of magic trailing behind her like the remnants of a fading star.

Chapter 73

For the third time that day, Taly woke to bright lights and shouting. Her head sagged against Kato’s arm as he carried her through the crowded courtyard towards the open doors of the Swap.

She’d been here, done this, though the circumstances had been different.

After she’d closed the rip, she’d fallen—fallen and fallen for what seemed like an age as Calcifer dove after her. He’d just managed to catch the back of her tunic with his teeth, slowing her descent and redirecting her into a pile of crates to cushion the fall.

People crowded the open doors of the Swap. All around, voices shouted as children shrieked and wailed, a cacophony that echoed through the vast building.

For a moment, she almost thought she’d returned to that old timeline. That everything that had just transpired—Aneirin, Lachesis, Calcifer, the rip in the sky—had been nothing more than a delusion dug up from the depths of her concussed, overworked mind.

But then the differences flooded in. People were streamingoutof the doors instead of fighting to get in. There were no harpies circling the courtyard like vultures. She’d killed them.

Allof them, thank you very much.

She’d rewritten time, and the Weave was steady. It was holding.

Taly blinked, trying to get her eyes to focus. Another concussion, probably. “Wait,” she rasped, struggling against Kato, who tightened his grip. “I have to go back. I have to find—”

Calcifer’s wet nose prodded her arm and she sagged, eyes stinging as she reached down to twist her fingers in his fur.

“I don’t know what my brother sees in you,” Kato muttered under his breath. “Stubborn, hardheaded,suicidal—”

“I’m sorry,” Taly said.

“No, you’re not.”

She didn’t argue. He was right. “Put me down.”

Kato huffed. “Fat chance. This time, I’m chaining you—ow! Stop it.”

Taly wriggled out of his arms, stumbling and wobbling through her first few steps. Every part of her battered body ached. That power was gone now. She’d spit it out into the void along with every bit of her own magic. It was the only way. They were too similar, impossible to pick apart.

Her balance steadied. She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Her clothing was ripped and covered in gore, and she had splinters in her tattered hair.

Then she noticed the hush.

And Taly finallylookedat the people crowding around her as they whispered and pointed.

Her glamour was gone. They’d seen what she’d done. Everyone here knew exactly what she was now.

“Well… fuck,” she muttered. This had the potential to turn horrible.

There was nowhere to run. They were surrounded. Calcifer paced a tight circle around her, all muscle and warning, daring anyone to come closer.

“Move to the doors,” Kato said to her. He stood close enough for her to feel the heat from his body, caution and worry warring on his face. “We need to get you inside.”

“Why?” Taly met the wide-eyed stares of the crowd with her own uncertain one. Measuring them as they measured her.“There’s nothing they can do to me in there that they can’t do out here.”

“They’re not the ones I’m worried about.” He grabbed her arm to drag her. “Inside.Now.”

She resisted. “What about Aimee and Aiden?”