I wept hysterically, clutching my ribs. I couldn’t breathe. My heart was racing out of my chest. “I’m dying, it’s the oath, I broke it and it’s killing me and I—”

“Tori!” Zak bellowed over Aaron’s shouts and my wails. “The oath isn’t real!”

My shrill cries cut off. Not breathing, I lifted my tear-blurred gaze to him. He stood a foot away from Aaron, the pyromage blocking his approach.

“The oath isn’t real,” he repeated into the silence. “I faked it so you’d keep your mouth shut.”

“You … fake?”

“Fake.” He stepped back from Aaron and folded his arms. “No spell like that exists. But you believed it did, and I figured that would be enough to keep you quiet.”

I sat motionless on the floor, Kai’s arm around my shoulders. “Fake?”

Zak sighed. “That’s why I made you swear not to reveal it. Any sorcerer would have told you it’s impossible.”

I couldn’t move. My head swam as the panic attack faded … and something else built in its place.

“You bastard,” Aaron spat. “You terrified her with a fake spell?”

“What choice did I have?” Zak snarled back. “It was that or kill her.”

Aaron got in Zak’s face. “What kind of sick, twisted—”

“It was a harmless trick that allowed me to let her go.”

“Harmless?”

I stared blankly at nothing. A trick. He had tricked me.

Zak and Aaron snarled at each other, their voices spiraling around me. Weeks of fear, of guilt, of nightmares about saying the wrong thing and dying—it had all been a trick?

I pulled away from Kai and stumbled to my feet. Zak and Aaron were shouting, and as I lurched toward them, flames sparked up Aaron’s arms. Zak’s hands clenched and fae magic lit up the runes on his inner wrists.

As I reached them in a stumbling run, their heads snapped toward me, but this time, Zak wasn’t ready.

This time, my fist slammed into his jaw.

As he staggered, I pulled my arm back and flung another punch. Zak jerked out of the way, my knuckles grazing his nose. I fell forward—

Aaron grabbed me and pinned my arms to my sides. Zak’s eyes were huge with shock as he backed away, blood trickling from his split lip. Straining against Aaron’s hold, I screamed obscenities at the druid. That lying, conniving, heartless son of a—

The crash of splintering wood cut through my screeching.

Kai appeared beside me, his hand clamping over my mouth. “Tori, be quiet. Please, be quiet.”

The fear in his voice silenced me. I strained my eyes toward the other side of the room.

Ezra stood at the entryway to the dining room, his back to us. The unexpected sound had been him punching the doorframe. His fist was still buried in the wood, the frame splintered and crooked.

He didn’t move except for his heaving shoulders, his harsh breathing loud in the sudden silence.

And then I realized the room was freezing cold. The lights had dimmed to pinpricks. Our breaths puffed white in the wintry air.

Motions slow, Kai removed his hand from my mouth. Aaron drew me out of the living room and into the front landing. He turned the knob carefully, silently opened the door, and pushed me outside. The evening air felt warm compared to the temperature in the living room.

Aaron and Kai stepped out after me, followed by Zak, who noiselessly closed the door like he knew exactly what he was supposed to do.

Sitting heavily on the steps, Aaron exhaled a heartfelt curse.

“What’s wrong with Ezra?” I whispered.

Kai leaned against the porch railing and pressed a hand over his eyes. “Everyone screaming pushed him over the edge.”

“You two are playing with fire,” Zak said, but the words lacked any heat or power. He just sounded tired.

Kai lowered his hand to study the druid. “What do you plan to do about it?”

“Nothing. It’s none of my business.”

Aaron chuffed in angry disbelief, then waved at me. “Sit, Tori. You look like you’re about to fall over.”

I glanced at the front door, then sank down beside Aaron. I had to swallow twice before I could speak. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.” His glare locked on a certain druid, indicating who he preferred to blame.

Zak leaned against the siding beside the door, blood dripping off his chin from his lower lip. He didn’t even have enough decency to look guilty.

“What was the whole ritual thing you did, if it wasn’t a real black-magic oath?” I demanded. “What did you make me drink?”

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “A vitality potion. It was good for your health.”

I stared at him. The purple “black magic” potion had been sweet—just like the purple vitality potion he’d given me two days ago. I was a dumbass.

Resting my head on Aaron’s shoulder, I closed my eyes. “I don’t ever want to see your stupid face again.”

“You’ll have to see it a few more times, but I’ll be gone for good once you’re fae-free.”

That got my eyes open. “What do you mean?”

He folded his arms. “Your mage pals will make my life hell. You really think I’d hang around?”

Fair point, but I wasn’t bound by an imaginary oath anymore, so maybe I could do something about my mage pals making his life hell.

I turned to Aaron. “I met his alleged victims. He doesn’t abduct teens. Kids who want a new life find him, and he takes them to a safe place, trains them up in their magic, and sends them off into the world with new identities. They all adore him.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am. I mean, he’s a huge dickhead and he’s killed some people, but they all deserved it. I think.”

Zak made a disgusted sound. “This, Tori, is why I made you swear that oath.”

I shot him a glare, then asked Aaron, “Can you please keep Zak’s secrets? He’s protecting vulnerable kids. He destroys most of the black magic he buys. He’s a shitty, immoral rogue, but he terrifies even worse rogues.”

Aaron’s gaze darted between us, then he slumped. “This is bullshit. Fine.”

“Tori,” Zak said darkly. “I don’t care what he promises. I’m not taking any chances. Besides that, Varvara has most of her minions hunting me. I have no choice but to drop off their radar.”

“If you go into hiding,” Kai remarked thoughtfully, “they’ll know you’re vulnerable. With a reputation like yours, why back down?”

Zak’s expression went even colder. “I’ll worry about my own skin.”

Shrugging, Kai pushed off the porch railing. “I’m going to check on Ezra.”

He disappeared into the house, and the rest of us waited in silence.

Kai returned a moment later. “He’s upstairs. You can come back in.”

I followed Aaron and Zak inside and collapsed onto the sofa. Fatigue rolled through me in waves, and my giddy spurt of energy had crumbled into listless depression. Zak had to go into hiding, and it was probably my fault. Ezra was alone upstairs in who knew what state, and that was probably my fault too. Could I screw things up any worse?

Zak’s scorching green eyes appeared in front of me. He’d cleaned the blood off his face and a salve gleamed on his cut lip. How long had I been sitting here feeling sorry for myself?

“Potion time, Tori.”

I took the vial he offered and tossed it back without looking at it. He handed me the purple vitality potion next, and as sugary sweetness flooded my tongue, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognized the taste.

Kai joined us with a heavy leather tome under his arm, and Zak followed him into the dining room. I slouched on the sofa, listening to the creak of leather, the rustle of pages, and the low murmur of their voices.

The cushions dipped as Aaron sat beside me. Without thinking, I skooched over and curled up against his warm side, my head pillowed on his chest.

“So, you don’t hate me,” he murmured, stroking my hair. “I was starting to wonder if I’d upset you.”

Guilt slashed me. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Mm.” His hand moved to my shoulder, lightly massaging tense muscles. “There’s something I really need to know.”

I stiffened anxiously. “What?”

“Now that you can talk about it, how did you lose your shoes?”

A laugh burst from me, and I quickly stifled it. The mystery of how I’d ended up at the guild barefoot following my imprisonment with the evil Ghost had been bugging Aaron for weeks.

I snuggled up to him again. “They were ruined by dragon blood. Did you know dragon blood is poisonous?”

“Had no idea. What’s the whole story? I’ve been dying to know.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, thinking carefully. Zak’s reputation was part of what protected him. Aaron knew Zak didn’t kidnap kids, and that was enough. He didn’t need to know all the private things I’d learned about the secretive druid. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Aaron’s word, just that … it felt too personal to reveal.

“I lived with the other teens for two weeks,” I said simply. “When Varvara took Nadine, I revealed why I was there. He made me swear the fake oath, and a dragon flew me home.”