I glanced at the circle. The dancers had dissolved to the point that most no longer had eyes, so their faces went up to the center of their noses and then stopped. They were dead. All of them. Oh, they kept dancing, but there was no saving them now. Of course, there was more than just the lives in that circle at stake. I shuddered, staring at the energy coalescing behind the piper. How much does she need to smash all the planes into reality?

"Alex?"

Death. I spun in my crouch, expecting dozens of collectors, but found only Death, the gray man, and the raver.

"I was expecting more."

"More?" Holly asked, unable to see the collectors.

"We were the closest," the gray man said, crouching to stay out of view. Right, Holly and Falin might not be able to see the collectors, but the constructs could.

The raver shook her head as she sank into a crouch. "d.a.m.n, those things are huge."

Falin had clearly figured out that the collectors had arrived because his narrowed gaze was fixed on the s.p.a.ce I was talking to. "Three of them?" he asked.

He was good. I nodded.

Death scoped the clearing, his jaw set hard as he knelt again. "We have to find a way inside that circle."

And we were back to the circle.

Falin explained the plan currently on the table despite my running protest. He might not have been able to see or hear the collectors, but he knew they could hear him. And, unfortunately, they liked the plan. I was outvoted five to two-because I figured if PC understood what was going on, he'd vote against the idea.

But they were right. If one of us tried to run to the clearing and place the charm, the dragons would be on us in seconds. Using PC, we might avoid detection by the dragons until after the barrier was down. Maybe. I hated the plan, but they were right.

Falin affixed the charmed bark to PC's collar with a bit of ribbon made from glamour. In theory, since PC was a null, he would soar through the barrier as though it didn't exist, but the glamour and the charm would stick and the disruption spell would activate. Or at least that was the plan.

"Ready?" Falin asked.

Holly nodded, her freckles standing out hard on her pale face. I let out a deep breath that tasted of sour fear, but I nodded. Then the gray man went with Holly and the raver went with Falin. Death stayed with me.

I knelt in the underbrush, rubbing PC's head, Death by my side.

"We're going to watch out for him," he said, and I nodded again. I noticed he didn't say that PC would be okay. The same quality that made PC useful for this job would make him hard to keep tabs on once things turned nasty. "They are in position by now."

I know. I crab-walked forward, carrying PC until we were almost in the clearing. If the dragons focused on my hiding spot I was screwed, but PC needed a straight line of sight for the circle.

I placed the small dog in the gra.s.s in front of me. He turned, immediately trying to climb back in my lap. Smart dog. I set him down again and shook my hand like I had a toy. He looked at my hand, his ears p.r.i.c.king with curiosity. I made a soft squeaking noise with my mouth, and PC's tail lifted, wagging. It took a moment of shaking and squeaking, but I riled him up enough about the imaginary toy that he wouldn't take his eyes off my hand. Then, in the ultimate act of deception, I reared my arm back and pretended to hurl the toy at the circle.

PC dashed after the imaginary toy. The small dog was a tiny streak of gray and white crossing the gra.s.s. As planned, he charged the edge of the circle. Cleared it. The disruption spell stayed behind. Streaks of red lightning shot through the barrier around the spell, the sparks spreading like a fast-creeping frost.

Come on, PC, come back. He stopped just inside the circle, his tail tucked as the dancers pounded past him, but he was still searching for the toy, his little head swinging back and forth.

I hadn't exactly forgotten about the dragons, obviously, but I was so focused on my dog that I didn't notice the approaching green dragon until a huge muzzle filled the s.p.a.ce in front of me. The muzzle stopped, one giant nostril ridged with shiny green scales inches from my face. I froze, not moving, not breathing, not even blinking.

The dragon's nostril flared, and the force of its inhaled breath dragged air across my face, making my hair and gown flutter. The dragon lifted its head and the giant muzzle disappeared. The muscles in my legs went soft with the sudden sense of relief falling through me. Relief felt too soon.

The head reappeared, the dragon peering into my hiding spot with an enormous red eye. The slitted pupil contracted, focusing. d.a.m.n.

I threw my shields open farther. Each construct I'd fought had been more solid, more real, than the last, and the dragon was the most real yet. But I knew it was a spell fueled by souls and wrapped in a glamour. I knew it. I just had to convince reality.

In my second sight, the eye was a swirling ma.s.s of nearly solid mist, the color and shape superimposed over top. Clenching my fist, I thrust my hand into the construct's eye. My skin encountered a moist resistance, and I rejected the sensation. It didn't exist.

The eye vanished. The dragon didn't.

The dragon roared in rage as its eye disappeared, only an empty socket of white mist remaining. It jerked back, swiping me with the edge of its head. My breath exploded out of my lungs as I flew backward, but there was no time to recover before the enraged beast charged. One ma.s.sive paw uprooted a tree as it reached for me and missed. Death grabbed me under the arms, hauling me to my feet, but then we both had to dive out of the way as the dragon lunged.

We scurried behind a tree, but we needed to either keep moving or turn and fight because the tree wasn't going to stop the construct. And worse, its bellows of rage had the other two dragons running toward us. f.u.c.k! Now what?

I peeked around the tree in time to see a silver blur dive in front of the dragon. Falin's soul blazed brightly in my vision as he dodged the dragon's swipe and then grabbed the talon on the back of the dragon's foot and used it to vault onto the beast's leg. He grabbed the wing where it connected to the body, and hauled himself higher, scrambling for the creature's long neck. The rampaging beast didn't even seem to notice Falin until the fae wedged his daggers between the dragon's thick scales, digging for its spinal column.

Then the dragon thrashed.

It craned its neck and beat at Falin with its wings, but Falin clung to the daggers, wedging them deeper. Unable to reach the source causing it pain, the dragon rolled, its claws swiping out as it hit the ground. Falin dropped, diving into his own roll to avoid the beast's lethal talons. The daggers didn't follow, but the dragon didn't die. It straightened, climbing to its feet and shaking dirt and uprooted gra.s.s from its scales.

"We have to help," I yelled, picking up the skirt of my gown and rushing forward.

I reached with my power and grabbed at the souls inside the beast, ripping them free. I'd forcibly ejected three souls by the time I reached the edge of the clearing, and Falin had scrambled back up the dragon's back. Death and the raver joined the fight, jerking souls free with every move. Previous constructs had shrunk with each soul freed, but either the spell had been improved or this thing had a lot of extra souls fueling it, because it didn't change.

I fell back, avoiding a large claw, and jerked another soul free as Falin ripped his daggers out of the dragon's neck. He thrust the blades between another pair of scales, and the dragon froze. Its jaw dropped, as if shocked; then its form exploded into a cloud of fog. A copper disk the size of an end table hit the ground. Falin landed beside it, his blades in his hands, and his gaze already on the two approaching dragons.

"Look out," Holly yelled as she emerged from the woods. My head snapped in the direction she pointed. The magic circle now had bright red cracks like blood veins snaking through the barrier, and at the point where the disruption charm touched it, the barrier bulged, the thick magic inside pressing against the weak spot. Like a crack in a dam, the magic began trickling out around the charm. The full force of the magic would be next.

I turned, intending to run for the shelter of the trees. I didn't have time.

Arms grabbed me, dragging me down and pressing me flat. Magic roared across my back, tearing at the bit of skin exposed on my shoulders. The smell of singed hair and burned clothing met my nose as the shock of the blast faded. I struggled to push to my knees and discovered that not one but two bodies covered mine.

"Let me up, guys," I said, sliding out from the tangle of arms. "Everyone okay?"

I received an immediate nod from Death. Falin just rolled to his feet and offered me a hand up. Well, the three of us survived. I glanced around to a.s.sess the rest of the group.

A second copper disk lay on the ground, the dragon apparently having gotten caught in the crush of the magical tide. The other dragon was missing, momentarily at least. The gray man and the raver hadn't bothered taking cover from the blast and they looked fine. I didn't see Holly or PC. My throat cramped. The dog had been inside the circle last I'd seen. The blast wouldn't have caught him from the inside. The dancers all still spun and leapt, so clearly the explosion of magic had affected only those of us outside.

But where is Holly?

Then I saw her red hair as she pa.s.sed a dancer who had dissolved down to his sternum. With the circle down, the spell on the enchanted panpipes had spread. All the dancers glowed the light yellow color I a.s.sociated with humans. As the only other human in the clearing, Holly had been called to the dance.

Chapter 38.

"Holly!"

Her head swiveled in my direction, her green eyes huge and terrified, but she didn't stop dancing. She couldn't. The circle was gone and the magic dispersed around the clearing, but it wasn't like the magic vanished. The piper continued to play, the spell taking shape behind her.

I dashed forward only to be knocked back by a blast of air. Dirt and leaves swirled around me as the last remaining dragon swooped out of the sky. It landed between me and the broken circle, blocking the way. Falin grabbed my shoulders, pulling me farther from the beast. It opened its mouth and fire filled the air. A wall of heat cut across our path.

d.a.m.n it.

"We have to stop the piper." Because regardless of who was under that cloak, she was not going to dissolve my best friend.

The dragon fanned silvery wings and released another ball of fire. I dove to the right, Death and Falin at my side, and the raver and the gray man dove in the opposite direction. The air heated, my lungs burning with each panicked breath. I glanced at the destroyed circle. Holly still danced, and she still looked whole, but . . . How long will that last?

"Distract it," I yelled over the wall of flames now separating Death, Falin, and me from the raver and the gray man.

"Distract it how?" the gray man called back as I fought to draw my dagger. "Think it would like a sonnet?"

As if in response, the dragon slashed at the gray man, its wickedly sharp claws slicing through the air. He dove aside, and the construct caught gra.s.s.

Now or never. I dashed forward, Falin and Death on my heels.

Falin lifted his dagger as he ran. He changed his grip as if he would hurl the dagger, but as his eyes cut over the dancers, he shook his head. "I can't get a clear shot."

I didn't stop running, but sent my power ahead of me. The dancers were dead. My power recognized that fact. A dead body wasn't a natural place for a soul. I reached through the spell that kept the bodies dancing as if it weren't there, and the souls popped free. Five bodies collapsed, the spell releasing them now that they couldn't fuel the ritual. A clear window to the piper opened.

We'd reached the edge of the broken circle, and Falin threw his dagger without changing stride. The blade gleamed in the moonlight, the fae-wrought steel unmarred in my grave-sight. His aim was good. Perfect. The piper looked up as the blade approached, her cloak flaring with the movement.

Then everything went wrong.

The long-coated reaper appeared. He knocked the piper aside, and the fae blade pa.s.sed harmlessly through his torso. He turned, a snarl-like smile curling his lips as he focused on us.

The piper hit the ground, and the music stopped. All around us, dancing bodies froze, dead muscles turning stiff. They collapsed, hitting the trampled gra.s.s with fleshy thumps. Only one dancer remained standing, her red hair wild around her face and her cheeks glistening.

Holly's hands flew to her head, her fingers digging along her scalp. "I'm all here, right? I'm not . . . ?"

"You're good." I didn't stop running. The piper was already picking herself off the ground. I shot Holly a desperate glance. "Get out of earshot of that spell."

"What about you?"

I didn't tell her I'd be fine-that might have been a lie. My grip tightened on the dagger and a small dog yipped. PC jumped over a leg twisted unnaturally under a fallen dancer, and I almost stopped, my sprint cut short as a wave of relief washed through me. But I didn't have time to celebrate yet.

"Take PC with you," I yelled to Holly.

"But-"

I wasn't listening anymore. The reaper opened his coat and pulled a looped whip from a strap in his belt. The whip rustled as it uncoiled. He flicked his wrist and a loud crack thundered through the clearing. I faltered, my hands covering my ears without conscious thought on my part. Then a new sound competed with the ringing in my ears.

Pipe music filled the night, and my body responded to the sound. No. No. I wouldn't dance.

I couldn't help but move, my feet leading me in a turn, a leap. And I wasn't the only one. Falin, his teeth gritted and his hand clenched around his remaining blade, also danced. She's playing for fae souls now. Only she wasn't playing. The pipes played themselves, the magic coalescing in the air streaming through them.

"Rianna, why?" I cried as my legs carried me in the dance.

The piper turned, her cloak moving as she tilted her head. Then she pushed the hood back and I wasn't staring at Rianna's sunken green eyes and lank red hair but at the face of a stranger. Relief coursed through me, though it didn't last.

"You should have helped me. Told me how you touched the dead. Opened realities for me," she said, frowning at me, and I realized with a sick sense of shock that I recognized her more handsome than pretty features.

"You're the woman from the Bloom. The one who thanked me for releasing you from the endless dance."

"Yes." She smiled, but it was a smile cut with sadness and darkened with hate. "Trapping me in the Eternal Dance was some fool's idea of an ironic punishment, but you freed me and soon nothing and no one will keep me from my love."

Her love. The reaper.

Another crack cut through the air from the reaper's whip, but I didn't have enough control over my body to cringe, let alone twist to see what was happening. The piper-Edana, that was what she had called herself-closed her eyes, her head tilting back as magic coursed through her and the pipes. No, not just magic. An unstable gap opened behind her, the edges wavering, flickering through planes of existence.

No. She couldn't merge realities.

But she was.

I struggled against the spell, fought to stop dancing. To still myself. My body continued twisting and jumping.

Beyond the circle, the gray man and the raver fought the dragon, jerking souls free one after the other, but the construct didn't shrink. A leap and swirl in the dance turned me away from Edana so I couldn't see the spreading rift. But I could see the reaper. His whip snaked outward, wrapping around Death's neck. Death winced, but grabbed the length of the whip, holding it immobile as the reaper tried to jerk him forward. Death held his ground, not budging.

Then magic slammed into his back.

Death toppled forward, falling to his knees. A woman's laugh twined with the pipe music. I couldn't see Edana, but I could see the thick black lines of the spell she'd hurled. A spell with lines not only slamming magic into Death but pulling something out of him as well.

His essence.

"You're exactly what we need," she said, and the dance turned me, bringing her into view again.

"Stop. Leave him alone!"

She glanced at me. "You'll have your own time to fuel the spell. Be patient."

I swallowed. Falin and I were both part of the spell now. I could see him in my peripheral vision, still whole and alive. The spell holding us was killing us slowly. Whatever she was doing to Death was draining him fast.

I have to stop her.

Grave essence leached off the fallen dancers' bodies, the magic their souls had generated filled the air, and Aetheric energy shot through all of it. The gap had spread, the bodies closest to the center of the circle rotting away as the land of the dead touched them. Aetheric energy swirled in the air, dark tendrils wrapping around Edana as if she'd plugged herself into the very fabric of the magic realm.

I forced my shields wider, opening myself to everything, blocking nothing. The chill of the grave rushed into my body, but there was more magic to be had than just grave essence. I drew it in indiscriminately, pulling power until my skin felt ready to burst. Then I let it explode out of me, hurtling toward Edana.

She wasn't a corpse, so my power couldn't sink into her, or jerk her soul free of her body. It slid over her skin, her life and her shields protecting her. No. I had to do something. I had to.

Fred had told me that when the world decayed I'd have to do what was against my nature. According to Kyran, my nature was to weave reality together, but I could also shove it apart. So that's what I did.

I shoved.

With everything I had inside me, I shoved at the realities converging around Edana. I started at her skin, pushing outward. As it had when I'd been in the shadow court, reality buckled and then moved under my magic's touch. I poured more power into the effort, thrusting with my magic. The enchanted pipes slipped out of Edana's hands as though she could no longer hold them, and the music stopped.

I tumbled to the ground, my legs collapsing under me. My whole body shook, a darkening light-headedness threatening behind my eyes. Still I pushed with my power. Layers of reality peeled away from Edana, leaving an area like a giant bubble around her clear of everything but mortal reality.