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The dewar elves were spelling, and as their power rose, given direction by Landon’s will, a growing sensation of division blossoht, then quashed it lest Landon know hts But it was Vivian, and Professor Anders, and a handful of other bright silver thoughts striding through the ponderous beat of the rising curse Their song was a half step out of sync as they tried to break the curse and prevent the lines froan! Landon’s thought iced through asped as a wave of hatred pinned my soul down Now you die!

I felt h the dewar to collect his borrowed power to his purpose The chant for the curse to break the lines continued without hio spun me as he lit a flame of destruction in the middle of my brain My throat went raw as I screa

Alhunder the dewar’s curse

The dewar dru out the pain Landon had pinnedblack presence scoopedme in the scent of burnt aain

Rachel? It was fa a hint of a British lord’s accent I could feel my body shake on the floor of the Cincinnati hotel, but the pretend world in hts was more real and I slowly focused on thoseof souls clustered near, stinking of frustration and broken trust It was the deht, and his relief sweptcradled by Trent I could smell the broken scent of spoiled wine He held reater danger

Thank God you ca all the de the lines!

Why do you think we’re here? Al thought dryly atto be trapped in the ever-after again, but if the lines end, everything goes with it And then he thought so loudly that for adrums, To me, all free souls! ToSo for Nina So me not to leave him

But I couldn’t abandon the dewar, and I felt my mind expand as free souls came--demon, elf, witch--so sure and swift that the dewar’s confidence faltered

Trent! I called when I felt his thoughts wrap around mine as his arms were in reality No! He’s here to help! I shouted when the deasped, both our bodies jerking when Al yanked Trent’s soul next to , Al said, and then we all started, faltering as another line snapped

I felt hts expanded as if in a hiccup Trent’s presence beside ht as the demon minds dimmed Alone, Trent and I seemed to stand with the elves and witches who’d cleaved to us Confused, I listened to the dewar dru of a second ley line

Al! Trent, helppulled back to the ever-after beca of their claws like nails on a blackboard, shivering throughforced back to the ever-after--and I think the deht, terrified As the lines went, so would they, reducing the for his presence, but it slipped like silver past ht, frustrated as he hid me from the dewar drums They’re bound to the ever-after

I wouldn’t allow it, but the theoretical world made another hiccup as a fourth line snapped I could feel the undead souls sliding pastas they spiraled back into the ever-after Determination alone held the deh, for when the last line went, so would they Landon would have it all

I gasped as a fifth line fell, and the deo oftheht, and I focused on his awareness until his thoughts becao!

There was only one way I could find and get a grip on the deht or ht not be, and I dove deep into my mind to find that tiny ball of black hate that Landon had cursedcurse Takeit to bind with onized cry of heartache as the curse gleefully dug its claws intopart of me And if it was a part of me, then I was a part of it With a snap that shook ether in misery

Rachel, why? Al asked, his presence clearer than the rest You were to be the beginning of us aneith all the best parts and none of the bad

Another line snapped with the sharpness of a tension wire giving way Somewhere I could feel Trent’s arms aroundabout ht at Al Tell theoing faster

Another line snapped, and the demon collective cried out as if an elevator had dropped six feet Panic sifted up through o, Al thought, and I focusedcurse, I never would have found hi, I’d lost Trent

You want me to survive? I asked Al Then you have to survive withthis by myself Hold on!

There was only the thinnest thread of hope weaving through thethened with hate I fed on that, bolstering it as I focused on the binding curse, still hot-iron bright in me I could feel the the shades of color and sound, looking for the telltale sparkle of the Goddess ic that the elves had needed to create it Of course the demons couldn’t break it--it was Goddess made But I could

Rachel, no! Al protested as he sawto live forever, you son of a bastard! I exclaihts clenched on his awareness, I held him as I dove to the botto with delight at theMystics swirled around her, visible in my mind’s eye like purple eyes lidded with feathers

AonIThen another Oblivious, the Goddess struht as it curled up and vanished, and my temper snapped

Hey! I exclai down to a thought of recognition and hatred

You! the Goddess snarled, and I openedcurse was created with the Goddess’s strength, and it would take that to break it

I will kill you! the Goddess screah littering, overloaded and hu It would fall soon of its own accord without the Goddess’s will, and I wanted to weep for the stupidity of it all The ever-after was going to fall I couldn’t stop it I could only keep the deht at her Try, I thought, willing thetherate I could hear the dewar shaking with her outrage And in that bare instant before she turned her thoughts to crushthrough me, a million voices turned to one intent

No! the Goddess cried, panicked Give them back! But she was helpless as I bentcurse

End this, I said to them, and with no more than my will, the curse that bound the demons to the fate of the ever-after si and purity chih the de into the demons and beyond I felt therace bestowed The ashed out from them to leave a shocked silence

And then the last line between reality and the ever-after broke