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As it turned out, time magic was efficient at corralling large groups of easily manipulated creatures. Taly could see that now that the Queen was no longer following along behind her unraveling her spells.

The harpies floated frozen overhead, mangled wings splayed open, bodies tilted downward—caught mid-plummet.

But the courtyard below was empty now.

The people who had been there—those she’d watched die—were now safe, tucked away behind the double doors at her back.

Power howled through her, raw and untamed. Not just magic—it was the weight of eternity, pouring through her veins.

It was endless possibility screaming to be unleashed.

Ten minutes. That’s all this second chance had given her. She would use it well.

Gold swirled around her hands as she speared two fingers into the space in front of her. The air bled light, opening like a glowing seam. Reaching into that pocket of nothing hidden beyond time and space, she produced a long, heavy rifle.

Taly had begun building her arsenal six weeks ago.

Time mages were weak. That had been Azura’s most important lesson.

They couldn’t hurl fireballs or lightning or sic plants and minions upon their foes.

Nor did they have the raw physical strength of a shadow mage.

Even worse, their spells were costly. A prolonged battle would leave them aether-starved and vulnerable.

Which is why time mages had learned to cheat.

And why Taly had decided she needed to be very well-armed. To find a purpose for these inter-dimensional storage rifts other than preserving tea and pastries and a spare change of clothes.

Speaking of which—she pinched the air over her head and gave a quick tug. In an instant, her festival robe was replaced with sleek fighting leathers.

Reaching into another rift, she pulled out a bandolier loaded with shells grouped by color: red, green, white, and blue.

Carnage in every color of the rainbow. Magical rounds, packed with crystals set to ignite on impact.

A powerful weapon, though not nearly enough to take out a harpy.

Even dead and resurrected, their skin was hard like iron.

Good thing she had her B.A.B.I.E.S.

Another rift opened, and a perfect crystal sphere dropped into her palm.

B lank A etheric B ubble- I ntegrated E xothermic S ystem. BABIES. Or, as Skye so aptly put it, a big-ass-bomb.

He’d seemed concerned when she showed him the prototype.

Alarmed when Kato helped her build it. And then maybe a few extras…

By the time her cache reached a hundred, he’d been so visibly disturbed, she’d promised to stash them in a pocket universe so far out of reach, she’d need his help to retrieve them—placating him with the idea that his moralizing presence would be there to save her from her own worst impulses. [vi]

But today she didn’t need his help. She had more than enough aether to retrieve them on her own.

The idea was simple. Each orb contained a small amount of shadow crystal primed to detonate. And since shadow crystal conducted raw aether, the energy it released upon ignition could assume the properties of anything magical it encountered.

Like ice—from the bandolier, she picked a shell filled with blue powder.

Behind her, frantic whispers filled the Swap as people shoved for a better view. Faces pressed against windows, marveling at the harpies—suspended midair, wings spread but motionless.

And at her—the one who had trapped them there in a bubble of frozen time.

Her glamour was gone. She’d felt it crack the moment she fell back into her body, the enchantments unable to withstand the sheer amount of power in her blood. There would be no more hiding after this, and honestly… good .

Taly loaded the bullet into the chamber.

She was done. Done with the lies. Done with hiding, with pretending she was something less than what she was.

She was done with the suffocating fear that loomed over her every waking moment.

She was done feeling shame for the sin of being born—a decision that hadn’t even been hers to make.

The courtyard rippled, shimmering gold. Time was restarting. The harpies were beginning to move. Slowly, endlessly, they fell through the air.

Taly threw the first glass sphere into the heart of them.

Human or Fey, Shardless or time mage, she was allowed to exist in this world—had just as much right to it.

Raising her rifle, she took aim.

Fuck anyone who would tell her otherwise.

It was time to let them see what she could do.

She fired.

The sphere exploded in a blast of ice and cold that ricocheted outward. And as it did, more rifts opened, more of her BABIES dropping into place among the harpies, carefully spaced.

The explosion was still spreading, that first icy blast still echoing.

When it reached the next orb, the blast discharged— another explosion rippled outward, catching the next orb in its radius, then the next.

One after the other, the blasts ignited, a daisy chain of detonation that lit up the sky like slow-motion fireworks.

The harpies froze—literally froze as ice hardened over their bodies.

In regular time, the explosions would’ve been fleeting, but in this warped existence, she could savor every bit of carnage as it unfolded—ice splintering, shards cascading, destruction stretching without end.

Then the last orb detonated.

She let go of the spell.

Time snapped back. Sound and movement crashed in at once.

From the outside, it had been instant—one shot, one breath, and the sky erupted.

The harpies shattered, raining down in pieces over the courtyard. Cold air and blood pelted her face.

Taly spit out a piece of gore, unfazed.

There was silence as all around buildings burned, the fires casting the courtyard in stark relief. Turning slightly, she noted the pale faces gawking from every window of the Swap.

She’d stopped the harpies, but Aneirin would still be coming. She needed to lead him away if they were going to have any sort of chance.

That power inside her gave a vicious heave, and Taly doubled over. Panting, golden aether speckled every exhale, crackling in the air around her. The heat inside her was unbearable, burning as if the sun itself had found a home in her chest.

She ripped off her coat, fingers tearing at the laces of her tunic until she could feel cold air against her throat.

But it didn’t help. The heat still surged, that power still rising— refilling, rearranging her from the inside out.

It moved through her, shifting parts that weren’t meant to move, like molten glass being pulled into a new form.

She needed to burn it off—needed to do something, anything , before it consumed her. And there were more harpies out there. Their shrieks echoed in the distance.

Gritting her teeth, Taly straightened. She re-loaded her rifle, swapping ice for fire.

And as the sky began to lighten, the stars fading into the promise of a new dawn, she set off into the city, intent on fulfilling a vow she’d made long ago.

Harpies were horrible beasts. Really, she should thank Bill for gathering them all in one place.

It would make it so much easier killing every fucking one.

Aimee was in over her head.

She’d gathered all these people, and they kept looking to her for a plan. She just hadn’t figured out what it was yet.

It had started like something out of one of her nightmares. The harpies descended over the city. People panicked, scattering in every direction. Before she knew it, before she’d even given it a second thought, she’d become their guide.

She knew glamours, and she knew how to use them to hide. How many nights had she hidden her mother and brother when Arys Thorne went into another rage? How many shadowy corners had she taken refuge in at court, listening to gossip and conversation no one ever meant to be overhead?

Taking shelter inside a grocery, she’d woven glamours to disguise the storefront, taking the busted door and the shattered display window and creating the illusion of a plain brick wall. Their scent was masked, erased as thoroughly as she could manage.

And, of course, there were the glamours to lead others to her.

Crouched inside the splintered doorframe, the ground beneath her teal slippers scattered with glass, she had a good view of the street through the rippling barrier of her magic. The primary panic was over. Now there were just the stragglers.

They would come running down the street, sprinting for the next bit of cover one block over, and that’s when Aimee caught them with flocks of birds made of water.

A little bit of gentleness and beauty within the chaos that seemed to whisper, Come with me…

Then her birds would lead them back to the store, to shelter, sneaking them beneath the watchful eyes of the harpies that still circled overhead.

She had almost 30 people now, most of them wounded. In the backroom, Aiden worked to get as many as he could back on their feet. They couldn’t stay here. They had no weapons, no defenses, and she could only hold the glamour for so long. Eventually, they would have to run, though to where…

Well, that was the part she was still working on.

Leaning around the window frame, the glamour stretched across her face like a film.

Aimee scanned the street. There were bodies everywhere, though fewer harpies now, thank the Shards for small mercies.

Most, she’d already managed to lead away.

An ill-formed illusion, barely a shadow, was all it took to grab their attention and make them give chase.

Perhaps if she could find one or two more water mages to help provide cover for the entire crowd, they could make it to the Swap.