The dead vines recoiled but didn’t break.
Something old and furious charged through me as I lifted my wand, though my hand shook.
“You picked the wrong batch of daughters,” I whispered.
The vines surged from beneath me in a wave as hedge magic exploded through the room, green and gold and furious, filling the circular chamber with leaves, thorns, and roots that smelledlike the garden outside my cottage after rain. The dead vines snapped back from the archway, cracking under the pressure as my magic climbed the walls and sank into the stone.
The room shook as Celeste yelled, not realizing it was my magic forcing the walls to break down.
A thin line split the stone from ceiling to floor, and I saw a flash of darkness beyond it.
And finally Celeste’s eyes landed on me. They were wide and terrified but alive.
I choked on a sob.
“Back up,” I told her.
“I can’t.”
Right.
The chain.
The dead vines recovered faster than I expected, lashing out from the upper corners of the room and wrapping around my wrists before I could move. Pain sliced across my skin as thorns dug in.
I yelled and yanked against them as the pendant flared violently and the moonstone sent a burst of pale light across the vines.
They loosened just enough for me to twist one hand free.
Behind me, the archway darkened as a tall shadow stretched across the floor.
I didn’t turn around, but the wall cracked wider.
Celeste’s face appeared between the broken stones with dirt smudging her jaw, but her eyes were fierce in a way that made my heart ache.
“I love you,” she whispered.
I let out a broken laugh despite everything. “Hi, baby. I love you too. I’m here.”
The shadow behind me moved closer.
Celeste’s eyes widened. “Behind you.”
I spun as a shadow came through the archway, but before it could strike, a blur of fur slammed into it from the side.
Keegan.
The impact drove both of them into the far wall. Keegan tore through the creature with brutal efficiency before shifting back into human form, his gaze landing on me with a fury that was mostly fear.
“You didn’t stay put, “ he growled.
“I found her.”
His eyes flicked to the rubble and my daughter as a smile surfaced.
“Celeste.”
“Keegan?” she cried, relief breaking through her voice.
