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Luc’s face blanched.

“They’ve found us!” A shrill voice lifted in the distance.

Lily spotted Mycra racing over the hills, her dark hair lapping behind her. Her strides were impressive, even with a short spear in her hand. “The House of Lyro is coming!”

“What?!” Dranian growled.

“Did you sayrash weeds?” Luc shouted. He yanked the hem of his coat around as if checking it.

Lily’s flesh pulled tight as she gazed over the hills. She couldn’t see anyone coming yet, but she wanted to look into the faces of the people who’d put Shayne into such a battered state. Who’d cast him out of their home when he was younger. She wanted to see what his heartless family looked like, but even more than that…

She wanted him to escape from them.

“Let’s airslip back to the café!” Lily turned to Luc. “Hurry!” she added.

Luc nearly choked. “Do you really think I can carryall of youthrough the wind, dear Lily?”

Her spare hand drifted to the pocket of her hoodie where she usually kept her phone. “Carry one of us at a time,” she returned, and Luc’s heart-shaped lips twisted.

“I don’t think you know how things work among fairies,” he said. “We can’t just leave when they’re this close or whatever Shadow Fairies they’re working with will follow us through the gate—as my own past has proven. Either we fight until they’re dead or we’re dead, or we make a bargain for our lives,orwe find a way to fool them intothinkingwe’re dead. But we don’t just ‘slip away’ without consequences.” He nodded toward Shayne. “Did this fool never tell you that?”

“Why do they care so much? Why can’t they just let us go?” Lily finally dropped Shayne’s coat and folded her arms, squeezing them tight. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Luc sighed. “It does, actually. I killed the heir to the House of Lyro the other day.”

Shayne released a deep moan. “I was hoping I’d dreamt that part. Couldn’t you have just messed Kahn-Der up a little? Broken his legs and smashed a few ribs? Did you really have to toss him off the top of a pillar like a bag of spoiled potatoes?” he asked Luc.

Luc examined his nails. “I enjoyed it.”

Shayne thought about that. Then he admitted, “So did I.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Mycra shouted when she reached them. She scooted to a stop, kicking up dirt. “The House of Lyro is coming. They’ll be here in minutes. We should run before it’s too late!”

“That won’t solve anything,” Luc said, more to himself.

“Sure it will. Let’s get out of here and sneak back to the human realm while they’re not looking,” Shayne said. He extended a hand to Lily, but she cast him a look to remind him she could walk on her own.

“Jethwire is leading the army,” Mycra added, and Shayne’s mouth twisted.

“So my father isn’t with them?” he asked.

“I doubt he’s back yet,” Mycra said. “But it doesn’t matter; it’s the hunting army. They’ll have already been promised rewards. Anyone spotted in your company will be black marked, and they’ll shoot to capture, not to kill.”

Shayne dragged a hand through his white hair, making it stand on end.

“Isn’t that better?” Lily asked.

“No,” Mycra, Dranian, and Shayne all said at the same time.

Shayne nudged Lily toward Dranian. “We should split up then,” he decided. “Lily, stay with Dranian. Why don’t you two head home first?”

“That is aterribleidea,” Luc said. He cast Shayne a sidelong glance. “You should be quiet if you only have bad ideas.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Mycra objected.

“Exactly,” Luc said. “They’ll catch us if we run, and they’ll corner us if we split up, which means we must fight.”

“What?! You want me to…fightfairies? Here in the Ever Corners?” Lily asked. Her chest tightened—she couldn’t seem to take in a full breath anymore.