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“I wish I knew more about this knife other than its mer origins and what it does. But I do know it keeps Silvanus safe, too. It has to, in order for the curse to work.”

We hadn’t had a chat about this yet. “Right.”

“I will keep searching for answers.”

“And what about this Wheel thing?” I asked, literally twiddling my thumbs as Medusa opened a doorway.

“Let me think on it.”

Typical. “Okay.”

“You are the last hope, Paris Raine. I want you to stay safe. There is no other conduit.”

“No pressure, then?”

“Quite.” There was that snooty, unfeeling tone again.

I rolled my shoulders when Medusa called me forward. I wanted to ask more, to dig deeper into, well, everything. But all in good time, and this was not one of them.

“Ready, sugar?” the snake shifter asked.

I glanced at Silvanus, who kept back and to the side, his head bowed.

My constant….

Drawing on my executioner training, I boxed up my emotions. Bound it in chains, the contents to be dealt with later. Beating Aidan was all that mattered now, and he could shove his contingencies up his arse. With the global spell, his faith would dwindle, and he’d be as useful as a prune floating in the ocean.

Pfft! Floating prunes were more useful than him.

His days were numbered.

Ugh. Why did my anxiety counter my determination with the force of a kick in the balls?

“You… You died…” Lia whimpered. “My… My son…”

I ignored her, heading through the portal to do my job.

I’d been chosen to change things.

So, let’s change things.

Even in the dead of night, Summer Forest battled the dark in a glorious display of light and color.

“Wow.” I twirled on the spot in a small clearing ringed by color-changing trees.

I’d heard about this, seen videos and pictures. But witnessing it face-to-face was on a whole different level, taking a piqued interest and spinning it into awed wonder.

The trees swayed in a balmy breeze as shades of berry-red, lavender, powder-blue, and a lush green took turns to flood the leaves. Fireflies shimmered close to them, moths fluttering too, and an owl hooted somewhere behind me.

“This is… Whoa.” I shuffled closer to Silvanus, bumping into him. “Sorry.”

“You’ve got that right, sugar,” Medusa answered.

I side-stepped away from the king.

All the flora greeted me with a warm rush of energy-boosting awesomeness. I smiled, waving around me, thanking it for putting a massive extra spring in my step.

Summer Forest spread across the entire southern region of the Elf Domain, although some of the central areas had been felled to build Glimmer City. The Carving Glade sat at the most southern part, not far from the coast. I detected a hint of salt through the floral bouquets on the air, and a tiny trace of vanilla.