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And she had cat-fast reflexes. Even Fane was slashing the knife through the air lightning-fast, parrying each attempt to jump him. So he hadn’t lost that part of his Gift, maybe because it wasn’t magical, just part of his genes.

A goblin aimed his sharp teeth at her leg, but she slammed the toe of her sneaker into his balls and he collapsed with a groan. She tore out its neck with her claws—and then spun to the left and took out another goblin’s eye.

A third jumped at her—a female, this time. She caught her in mid-air and wrenched her head to one side. Her neck broke with an audible snap. Two more goblins came at Marjani—the one with the missing eye and a new one, and she quickly and efficiently took them down, too.

She turned to the last goblin just as Fane got in a lucky jab to the goblin’s throat. Blood spurted from the goblin’s artery, and he wavered and then crumpled to the tiles. They’d won, with only a few minor cuts to show for it.

Marjani dragged in a breath as Fane shot her an exuberant grin. “How’d I do?”

“Not bad.” She smiled back, amused at his elation. But that was adrenaline from the fight. “I’ll make a fighter out of you yet. And now, if I can have my switchblade back?”

He handed it over, and she methodically stabbed the long, thin blade into the heart of each of the five goblins. When she looked up again, Fane looked a little pale under his tan.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “But they have magical blood, same as us. I have to make sure they’re really dead.” She wiped the blood on an animal skin and slipped the knife back into her pocket.

“No need to apologize. You’re right.” He let out a long breath. “We’re close. That’s why he sent the goblins.”

“The end is also the beginning,” she murmured. “Make the wrong choice and you’ll never get home.”

“What?”

“It’s just something Jewel said.” She rubbed her arm over her forehead. “Have you noticed that as soon as we recognize an illusion, it disappears?”

He nodded as they started walking again. “But those goblins were no illusion.”

“No.”

She stopped in her tracks as it hit her. Sindre’s illusions were designed for humans. If she shifted, her cougar might see through them where her human mind couldn’t.

“What is it?” Fane frowned down on her.

Her gut tingled. This could work. She knew it.

But would her cougar cooperate?

He’ll use your greatest weakness against you.

She dug her nails into her palms. I can’t go feral. I have too much to live for.

But Fane was here to help if she had any trouble, the mate bond strong and steady between them.

And maybe her greatest weakness wasn’t her cougar, but her fear of it. That the cat would take over, that she’d become a feral.

You're not an animal. You're a fada. I’m pretty sure that means accepting every part of you.

Fane was right. She had to stop fighting the cougar. To trust it, which really meant trusting herself—because her cougar wasn’t a weakness, it was a strength.

“I have an idea.” She grabbed Fane’s arm. “I think if I changed to cougar, I could see through the illusion. The maze might not even detect me. Fae spells have trouble recognizing fada in their animal forms.”

“So you’re going to shift?”

She nodded. “When I’m done, grab hold of my fur and don’t let go, even if it looks like I’m walking through a wall.”

“Okay.” No argument, just a confident nod. “Don’t worry, I trust you.”

He meant it. Through the bond, she felt his unquestioning belief in her. It both shattered her heart and healed it at the same time.

She dragged off her clothes and stuffed them in the backpack, keeping nothing but her quartz.

Fane shrugged into the pack and then pulled her into a kiss. A deep, thorough kiss—his hard body against hers, his shirt silky against her bare nipples. Through his pants, his cock nudged against her mound, thick and insistent.

Need curled through her. Deep within, the cat rubbed up against her skin, purring.

He lifted his head, blue eyes dark with wanting. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Marjani gave a little shake of her head to clear it.

“What was that for?”

“I just want you to remember that I love you.”

“Oh, I will.” She pressed a kiss to the soft hollow at the base of his throat, and then stepped back, fingers wrapped around her quartz.

“You got this,” he said with complete confidence.

“Yeah.” Because she did. She believed in herself—and her cat.

And I am not weak.

Taking a deep breath, she let herself resonate with the tiny crystals, but before she could shift, Fane disappeared. What the fuck?

“Fane?” Heart thumping, she aborted the shift. “Where are you?” She turned in a circle.

No answer.

“Fane?” she called louder. And then she screamed his name. “ Fane! Where are you?”

Somewhere nearby, Sindre breathed a soft laugh. She didn’t know how she knew it was him, but she did.

Anger blazed through her. “You can’t do this, you asshole. We’re supposed to solve the maze together.”

Cool fingers touched her bare shoulder. She whipped around to find the ice fae king looking down at her.

His mouth curved. “That wasn’t part of the bargain.”