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I roll my eyes as Granger gazes at Toto in silent wonder. This man couldn't hide his feelings if his life depended on it.

We made a pact ten years ago that Toto was off-limits, but apparently Granger decided it came with an expiration date. So far, he’s only made his own feelings obvious, but after everything we learned tonight, that scares the hell out of me.

Vera already knows Toto matters to us. The last thing we need is Granger showing her exactly how much.

Nick clears his throat. "Do you use the portal often?"

"Oh no." Toto laughs and waves her hand. "Anaviere fell in love with a sprite from the Enchanted Lake when I was seven. Fairies age quicker than humans, but live longer. She warned me not to go into Fable Forest without her, so I had no intention of using it by myself."

She glances back at all three of us. "Have any of you been to Fable Forest before?"

We shake our heads. At least, none of us remembers being there.

"Parts of it are quite lovely." Toto smiles, losing herself in a childhood memory for a moment before shaking her head. "But it's also dangerous. People like Vera are a dime a dozen in some parts of the woods."

"Do you know where Screaming Woods is in relation to this portal?" I ask, forcing my emotions back under control. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to scoop Toto into my arms and carry her somewhere Vera can never reach her.

But I know the only way to keep her truly safe is to stop running from our past and finally face it.

"I think so." Toto nods. "Anaviere liked humans. She took me to the border of Screaming Woods a few times because she wanted me to understand that being human didn’t make me any less special than the magical beings I grew up around."

A soft smile touches her lips before her expression clouds over. "But don't forget, time works differently once we're inside Fable Forest. We could spend twenty years there and return to find only ten minutes have passed in Oz." She pauses. “Or we could spend ten minutes there and come back a century later.”

Granger grins and links his arm through Toto's. "So what are we waiting for? Off we go."

I want to flick his head as Toto smiles up at him. Instead, I link my arm with Granger's and clamp down hard. He's strong, but I'm stronger, and I make sure he can feel every ounce of my irritation in my grip.

Granger pretends not to notice.

Nick loops his arm through Toto's on the other side.

She looks along our little chain, nodding at me before giving Granger’s and Nick's arms a squeeze. Then she takes a deep breath.

"Il est temps de ludere."

For a moment, nothing happens.

Then brilliant blue light spills through the gaps between the rocks.

The stones shift, slipping and tumbling over one another as they cascade away to reveal a hole beneath them. It grows wider with each passing second, and the distant sound of children's laughter drifts up from somewhere inside.

"Jump!" Toto yells.

All four of us leap into the mouth of the portal.

My stomach drops as it swallows us whole. The opening snaps shut overhead, and a rush of air catches us, propelling us through the darkness to whatever waits on the other side.

My heart climbs into my throat, and I fight the urge to run.

But there’s no turning back now.

Chapter five

Granger

Turns out, Screaming Woods is nowhere near the portal.

Anaviere must have flown Toto to the border all those year ago or used some kind of fairy magic to whisk her back and forth, because apparently, we have a hike ahead of us.