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“Then how did you know to come here?” I ask.

Just then, a light breath of wind begins to blow at my feet as Elodie crosses the room. Coming to stand beside Braxton, she says, “Because I told him.”

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Elodie tricked me—she—

The second she stands beside Braxton, their shoulders just a whisper apart, my heart crashes to the ground, shattering into a million unmendable shards.

I knew I couldn’t trust her, and now…

My gaze locks on hers as I choke out the words, “How could you betray me like this?”

“You’rethe one who’s betrayed?” Braxton shakes his head, but the cost of the movement is too great, and he winces in pain.

“I left you a note,” I tell him. “It explains everything. Or, almost everything, and—”

“Tasha,” he says. “Just tell me where it is that you’re going.”

“She’s going to visit her dad.” Elodie looks from me to him.

“But you can’t!” Braxton whirls on me. “You can’t stop what’s already happened—”

“Believe me,” Elodie says. “I tried to talk her out of it, but you know how she gets.”

I glare at Elodie. “I can’t believe you did this. I can’t believe you told him.”

“Someone had to,” she says. “He deserves to know.”

“I’m coming with you,” Braxton starts, but Elodie puts a hand on his arm.

“In your condition? I don’t think so. All you can do now is kiss your girl goodbye and wish her bon voyage.”

“Dammit.” Braxton tugs at his bandages. “Tasha, please, don’t do this on your own.”

“Make it quick,” Elodie says. “The sooner she leaves, the sooner she gets back. Hopefully before Arthur returns.”

I take a deep breath and step off the launchpad. “I’m sorry,” I say. “But it’s all in my note.”

“Why not tell me now?” His shipwrecked gaze searches my face as I pull an uneasy breath, wishing I could tell him, but I can’t. Not now. He’s too mad, too hurt, andthis is not at all how I wanted it to go.

So instead, I hug him tightly to me, my lips at his ear. “Please understand,” I say. “I need to do this. You said it yourself—your training was cut short, and if we have any hope of succeeding, then we need to know more. Killian robbed me of precious time with my dad, so I’m going back to reclaim what I can. All I ask is that you try to understand.”

“I do understand,” he says, pulling away. “But Tasha, I—”

I press my lips to his for one last sweet kiss. When I withdraw, I pinch the talisman between my fingers and say, “I will always find my way back to you. I promise you that.”

Then, before I can lose my nerve, I turn away and step onto the launchpad, only to find the wind is really starting to kick. Soon after, the lights begin to flicker, and the ground starts to shake.

Any second now, that dazzling white light will explode into the space. And once it collides with that gaseous cloud, the glimmering doorway will appear, and still, Elodie has yet to hand over the clicker I’ll need to make my way back.

Trying to hide my panic, I thrust a hand toward her and say, “You have the clicker, right? Because now would be a really good time to hand it over.”

Elodie’s face lights up in a grin. “Actually,” she says. “I’ve had it all along.”

Wait—what?

My nostrils jam with the scent of sulfur.