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As her knees slammed into the floor, she distantly registered that Magnus’ chanting continued.

One moment, Jessamine’s body hung limp in the sorcerer’s magic a few inches off the ground, and the next, there was a loud gasp.

Blinking through her tears, Arabella watched as the shimmering gold energy from the syphen flowed over Jessamine from head to toe. As it did, light animated her features, but it alsochangedthem. Jessamine’s cheekbones grew sharper, her muscles swelled within her leathers, and her ears became pointed.

Like the fae.

Jessamine fell to the floor, gasping.

In an instant, Arabella stepped between shadows, crossing the space and knelt before her friend.

Running her hands over Jessamine’s face, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Jessamine’s neck had been broken—twisted unnaturally to the side. Now, she was not only whole, but a magic unlike anything Arabella had ever sensed from another magic wielder blossomed in her senses. No longer was there thetelltale golden energy of an enchantress. Instead, Arabella felt the booming power of something else entirely.

“Unbelievable,” Jessamine groaned. “He turned me into a fucking fae.”

She was right. Or, Arabella thought she was. The magicfeltfae but also more than that. It felt like it was somehow tied both to the beating heart of the earth and the fae realm, itself.

A sudden realization struck Arabella as she sensed the pulsing of her friend’s new abilities.

Jessamine’s magic had surpassed all the fae in the room, including Hadeon and the queen. Only Magnus’ power was stronger than hers. Somehow, she’d become…

“Immortal,” Magnus said as he strode over to the base of the dais. “She’s a new type of fae—an immortal race that doesn’t grow old or become ill. The only way she can die is by blade, poison, or a… similar means.”

The queen rose, striding down the dais steps and coming to stand before Jessamine. Genoveva’s eyes drew wide as she studied Jessamine, likely coming to the same conclusion Arabella had—feeling the complete change in her magic.

Then the queen turned to Magnus. “Find a way to keep my magic and grant immortality, and you have a deal. But…” She pointed to Arabella. “The shadow fae will remain in my custody. The moment you fulfill your half of the bargain, she’s all yours.”

Magnus bowed his head. “As you say. I’ll make my final preparations.” Without another word, he turned toward the door with Elias at his heels.

Arabella stood in stunned silence, her mind reeling, before her feet were moving. She pointed a finger at Hadeon and then at Jessamine. “Help her. Now.” Then she ran after the sorcerer as he strode down the long throne room toward the doors. “Wait!”

This couldn’t be happening. Not only had Magnus done unspeakable things to Jessamine, but he was taking Elias away again.

When Magnus and Elias didn’t stop, she skidded to a halt and summoned her shadows. She formed a wall of impenetrable black before the door.

Magnus turned on a heel and walked back to her, his robes trailing on the ground. Blood no longer dripped from his hand but had dried around his fingers. Elias followed at his heels, his arms crossed behind him, his eyes on the sorcerer’s back.

Look at me,she thought, not for the first time.

It was a foolish thing to wish. She knew why he wasn’t looking at her, why he was so cold, acting as though he didn’t know her. It was the syphen. It was Magnus—all of this was his fault. But even knowing that, her heart twisted when he didn’t meet her eyes, when she couldn’t find the reassurance in them that she sought.

Even if she could see some recognition in his eyes, that would be enough. Just to see the male she’d fallen for was still there.

He’d been so close to breaking in the dreamscape.

She longed to know that he was okay, that he was stillhim.

“Why?” she demanded.

As she spoke, she thought of the enchantress she’d once been—the confident woman who’d been accustomed to giving orders and having them obeyed.

She needed to be that woman now.

The sorcerer stood before her, just out of arm’s reach. “You’ll have to be more specific, Enchantress.”

“For one, why Elias?” she said, grabbing hold of the anger alighting her senses and allowing it to bolster her courage. “Why can’t you find some other twisted hobby to occupy your time? For another…” She lowered her voice so that even the faecouldn’t pick up the next words with their hearing. “What do you hope to gain by allying with the Twilight Court?”

The sorcerer’s face remained impassive as he said, “I was ending kingdoms long before you were born. I cannot be goaded so easily.” He glanced over his shoulder to where Elias stood. “As for your questions… All in due time.”