They were guiding it.
The thought made my head swim, but it occurred to me that if the shadows could use my Hedge magic, I should be able to use the shadow magic.
“Maeve,” Rendel called from somewhere behind me, his voice suddenly sharp. “You need to stop this.”
A breathless sound escaped me that might have been a laugh.
“Great idea,” I said. “I’m open to suggestions.”
Another shadow streaked low across the clearing.
Keegan snapped at it and tore it apart, but two more came in behind it, twisting through the branches like they knew exactly where the openings were.
The hedge shuddered again, but not in response to the shadows.
In response to me.
The mark pulsed, and suddenly I could feel the vines.
Not justseethem.
Feel them.
I could feel the hedge beneath everything.
The roots pushed through the soil. The branches hooked around the edge of the clearing. Every thorn, every stubborn twist of green.
It was still my magic.
The shadows hadn’t taken it from me. They were just moving along it, slipping through the spaces the spell had already opened.
The realization landed hard and clear.
They weren’t controlling the hedge.
They were following the paths I’d made.
Which meant I could shut those paths and drive the shadows where they needed to go,
Another shadow dove for Keegan.
Bella slammed into it before it reached him, sending the thing spinning through a cluster of low branches.
But Keegan had already turned to face another.
And another.
And another.
Too many.
“Maeve!” Skonk yelled.
“I know!”
My hands curled into fists. The mark at my side flared hot enough to make me suck in a breath, and the hedge shuddered with it, branches rattling as the shadows scraped through them.
Everything around me was noise, shouting, the rush of wings, the crack of spells hitting bark, but underneath it, there was something quieter. Something steady.
