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Her smile was really all the answer I needed. “Our actions here this evening mean I am now truly one with the magic of this place. I can move through the reservation unhindered, and I can use the wild magic to defend, as we always intended.”

“Defend, not attack,” I said.

She nodded. “The rules do not change—the wild magic cannot be used to kill, nor can it touch that which is killed.”

I scrubbed a still shaking hand through my sweaty, tangled hair and glanced at the waiting threads that were the Fenna. “While I’m pleased Katie’s restrictions no longer exist, what the hell was the whole point behind me stepping into the wellspring if I remain unable to do anything more than defend? Defending isn’t going to stop these vampires.”

A luminous thread floated over and once more wound itself around my wrist. Even though Katie and I had bound ourselves to each other and the spring, it obviously had not deepened the connection to the Fenna. At least for me.

This spring is an outlier thanks to the spell performed here on its emergence, the voices said in unison, clearer this time than they ever had been. It is not part of us. Not until your child is of age and able to make the full reconnection. Until then, you will be able to use it as a Fenna would.

Which was why they’d been so insistent I come here. By forming a direct connection to this spring—giving me the ability to use its power without the danger of drawing too much from the other and risking the life of both me and my child—I’d giventhema means of eventually drawing the spring back into their main network. There was a part of me that wanted to be mad about their duplicity, but in truth, how could I be truly angry when Katie was so filled with joy? When my daughter and all those who came after her would have Katie as their guardian, at least while they lived in this reservation.

“That still leaves one major question you haven’t answered—what is the point of containing either of the vampires or whatever they might currently be conjuring if I can’t kill them within it?”

You cannot be directly connected to the spring’s wild magic when the death occurs, came the answer.But that doesn’t mean death cannot occur within its boundaries or that you cannot create your own barrier around theirs.

“And what of my inner wild magic? Isn’t that basically connected to the wilder stuff twenty-four seven?”

Unless you form a direct connection—which you have done subconsciously in the past—no. Like your native magic, it is a separate power.

Which was good to know. I glanced at Katie. “I guess this means you’ll need to be my co-pilot when it comes to the wild magic when we’re dealing with these vamps.”

“And I am more than happy to do so.” Her smile flashed, but quickly faded. “What develops may take both of us and more to stop, however.”

Which once again brought me back to what I’d seen in those dreams and the clearing I’d entered alone, without the wild magic or the people that had followed me through the forest. Perhaps the reason they hadn’t was the deadness the Fenna and Katie had mentioned earlier.

“How do I feel the location of this stain?”

Press your hands and feet into the earth, as you did earlier,the voices said,then close your eyes, and allow the veins of her energy to flow through your being. You will be able to both feel and see the blight—it will be a shadow within the glowing network of energy.

I bent and pressed my fingers into the ground. Though it was hard thanks to being baked under countless days of summer heat, it gave way to my touch, allowing my fingers to easily sink knuckle deep. As my toes also slipped into the soil, a deeper connection formed; in my mind’s eye, the wellspring’s magic was a heartbeat that ran through the ground, a stream of power that flowed from this clearing, a network of bright fingers thatmerged into a deeper river that spread out through every corner of the reservation and then beyond.

And in that river, I saw the distant blot of darkness. It was a tiny paint splat of black in the rivers of moonlight.

“Katie, where is that?” I whispered.

She placed her hands over mine, her skin warm and real rather than ghostly—a sensation no doubt due to our wellspring-forged bond—and a heartbeat later, her energy slipped into the streams of power beside mine. Which was interesting, because I’d thought Gabe’s spell meant she was permanently connected. I was obviously wrong.

“It lies in the forests above Sandon,” she replied. “The rivers that flow from both this wellspring and the main one follow the topography—if you concentrate, it should become more like a map than a mere network.”

I narrowed my gaze and concentrated, but saw nothing other than the glow of power.

“Maybe with time and a deeper understanding of the reservation’s geography it will, but right now, I don’t think we’ve the time to waste. We need to get over there and stop whatever they’re currently attempting.” I paused as a vibration ran across the bright rivers and echoed through my fingers. Something dark was on the move … I frowned, staring at the network, trying to gain some sense of what it was.

“There,” Katie said, mentally directing my attention to the left. “Whatever it is, it touches the ground lightly for something that feels so dark.”

I glanced to the area she meant and caught it—faint splashes of black pulsing across the network of power, dark footprints that faded as quickly as they appeared. “Is that coming from Castle Rock, and moving up this way?”

She hesitated. “It seems to be moving directly west rather than toward us.”

Directly west … My pulse skipped, and fear surged. “Would the Red, White, and Blue Mine be considered directly west of Castle Rock, by any chance?”

“It lies here.” She pointed to an area directly ahead of the dark footprints. “This monster cannot be one of Marie’s, as she surely wouldn’t be in Castle Rock when Maelle’s lair lies there. Or has Maelle been lying all along about knowing her maker’s location?”

“Oh, she’s undoubtedly been lying, but I’m not sure if she’s lying about that.”

“But you think this darkness is Maelle on the move?”