“I felt you through the spell. You were angry.Soangry—” she murmured, shivering.
I closed my hand over her head, fingers sliding through her hair.
“I wasn’t angry at you,” I murmured against her crown. “Never at you.”
That was when the door exploded inward.Literally. The hinges flew off and the frame cracked.
Ribbon barreled into the room, croaking so loudly the walls shook. Several witches screamed from outside, one male voice swore and a healing crystal shattered from where the door slammed against a shelf on the wall.
I shot upright, shielding Hanna automatically. Ribbon hopped his giant toad-body onto the cot, nudging Hanna with frantic little squeaks that did not match his enormous size. Hanna let out a soft, shocked laugh.
“Ribbon…?”
Ribbon croaked miserably and pressed his giant head against Hanna’s hip, trembling like he’d been crying. Hanna’s fingers slid into Ribbon’s fur.
“Oh sweetheart. I’m okay, I promise,” she whispered.
Ribbon let out a throaty, hiccupping croak and attempted to climb from the cot onto her lap.
“Ribbon,” I warned, “no—she’s fragile—”
Too late. Hanna giggled—actually giggled—when Ribbon flopped half his weight onto her legs, covering her in warm toad devotion. And Gods help me, that sound—the sound of her laughing again—nearly made my knees give out.
Tabitha rushed in, breathless. “The toad broke the door!”
Zara followed. “He also ate the doorknob.”
Tasia stalked in, her hands on her hips as she glared at Ribbon.
“Wewillbill you.”
Hanna smiled weakly.
“Let him stay,” she whispered. “Please?”
Tabitha softened instantly. “Of course, darling.” Then glared at me. “Butyoufix the door.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that crossed my face if I tried.
Hanna’s smile faded slowly as she looked up at me again.
“What happened at the estate?” she whispered. “Everything’s so fuzzy.”
I steadied my breath because I didn’t want her reliving it, but she deserved to know.
“They trapped you in a glamor cocoon,” I said quietly. “Corwin and your parents used a spell meant for binding. Tabitha explained it a little. It was used by slavers before it was outlawed. You were losing consciousness when we found you.”
Her pulse rolled through the bond—fear, anger, grief and disbelief layered together.
“And you…” Her voice faltered. “You came for me.”
I swallowed thickly. “The moment I felt you missing, I—” I stopped, unable to say it without feeling the raw panic I’d been drowning in.
She waited patiently, her fingers running through Ribbon’s fur in soft movements. I forced the truth out.
“I thought I was too late.”
The fingers of her free hand found mine again.
