Page 260 of Of Masks and Fury

Understanding exploded through me like lightning.

“It’s not one sacrifice,” I gasped. “It’s not even two. It’s all four of us. Trew and I, and Gavelle and Pherin. We’re the seal. We’re the living bridge that can heal the veil without death.”

“What?” Addie’s voice came out weak, her form barely solid now.

“The double bond.” I grabbed her hand with my free one. “When companions choose as hearts have chosen, the weave strengthens. Trew and I are bonded. Our companions are bonded. That makesfour sources of magic that can weave together into something stronger than any single sacrifice.”

Through the bond, I felt Trew stir. Felt him hear my words despite death clawing at his mind. His understanding bloomed alongside mine.

Do it,his thought came through faint but determined.Use us. Use everything, love. I’ll remember you. I’ll find you…somewhere.

Coralee and Lord Alfred flung Lexie down onto the slab.

Coralee’s companion shifted again, though not into an ermine. It morphed, twisting, until it became an enormous bird. Taking flight, it soared toward Coralee.

This same bird had delivered a body to Caldrith’s ballroom.

It had beenherall this time.

Derren roared and flung himself against a wall of Skathes keeping him from Lexie, his sword slashing.

Kira and Kerralyn rushed over and engaged other Skathes, Kira’s blade arm bleeding freely but her strikes no less savage.

I reached deeper into our bond, past the pain and fear, to the place where our magic intertwined. Golden threads and silver, wrapped around each other so tightly they’d become something new, something that belonged to both of us and neither of us at once.

And beneath that, I felt our companions. Gavelle’s ember-bright essence and Pherin’s wild copper fire, merged as completely as Trew and I.

“Addie,” I said. “Pull back your magic. You don’t have to die.”

“But—”

“Trust me.”

She hesitated for one heartbeat, then two. Then she nodded and withdrew, her essence pulling away from the weave. The threads we’d already woven held, but the healing stopped spreading.

I opened myself completely to the bond. Not just to Trew, but to Gavelle and Pherin. I let their magic flood through me along with his, four sources becoming one massive river of power.

The sensation nearly tore me apart. So much magic and raw energy, all channeling through my body like I was a lightning rodin a storm. My bones threatened to shatter. My blood scorched through my veins.

But the weave recognized us. It saw what we’d become through our bonds, a fusion of fae and companion magic that bridged the gap between realms in a way no single sacrifice ever could.

This was why our people had sought bonds like this. The old stories hadn’t been exaggeration. They could do amazing things.

Golden-silver threads erupted from where my hand reached within the breach, diving into the corrupted pattern and spreading like wildfire. Transforming it. Healing it. Weaving it into something whole and strong.

Trew gasped. I felt his wounds begin to close as our combined magic, amplified through the bond and our companions, flooded him with healing power beyond what his own abilities could manage.

His heart steadied. His breathing deepened. Life surged back into his body with enough force to make him arch off the ground.

“No,” Coralee shrieked, leaving where she was trying to pin Lexie’s arm to the slab, then rushing toward Addie and me with her blade lifted.

Trew’s eyes snapped open, blazing with golden light. He pushed himself upright, every movement costing him, and grabbed the sword he’d dropped. Gavelle and Pherin launched from his chest, shifting mid-air into firecat forms. They flanked him as he moved toward Coralee.

He slammed into the woman who’d killed so many, using his momentum to drive her toward the breach.

She realized his intention too late. Horror flooded her eyes as she stumbled, her feet slipping in the mud-slicked ground.

“No—”