He traveled in a blink. That was all it took.

One moment he was standing in Starling Antique Books, kissing Nicole…and the next he was here.

In Elysium. In the fields he’d dreamed of every night since he was tossed through the Gate. He was really back.

The Fae Realm sun radiated down on the knee-high grass. The delicate scent of flowers blew across the meadow, filling the air with a perfume he thought he’d never smell again. Bird song drifted down from the trees. In the distance a wyvern cried.

He was home.

A home where he didn’t want to be.

He balled his hands into fists and shouted at the sky. A flock of iridescent birds was startled by the sound and took off en masse, filling the sky with their shimmering colors.

Nicole had sent him home. It had been ridiculously easy. Her soul had proved to be a thousand times more powerful than Oberon’s curse.

But it had come with an unbearable price.

Why had she done it? Why had she given up her soul? Let go of the one thing that made her special. That made her Nicole Starling. The only thing that was more precious than life itself.

Because she loved him.

There wasn’t any doubt. Hadn’t he been about to do the same for her? He would have fought dozens of jinn if it meant Nicole would have a chance to live.

Even if he didn’t understand her motivations, he would have still known by the deep, warm sensation pulsing inside him—the feeling of Nicole’s love.

Shay felt it crystal clear now that the whole of her soul resided in him. He felt everything that was once a part of her. He felt her humor, her worry, and most telling of all, her lack of fear when she’d wished him back home.

She hadn’t been afraid, because she hadn’t been thinking of herself. She’d been thinking of him. She’d been thinking of something bigger than the both of them.

She’d found the other way out.

She’d hidden the key to the grimoire’s magic. She’d tucked it deep inside Shay, in a place so secure no one could retrieve it. Not Marrow, not a magician, not even Shay himself could touch it.

And with her father hidden from immortal eyes, the magic was safe.

Marrow could touch the book, but he’d never unlock the secrets inside.

It was a brilliant plan…and one Shay was going to have to ruin as soon as possible.

He didn’t give a single damn about the grimoire or the magic it contained. He didn’t care that he was finally back in the place he’d been dreaming about for months.

How could he when Nicole was back on Earth? Her body was an empty shell. Her life in more danger than ever before.

Because even though her heart was still beating, she wasn’t herself. She had none of the qualities that made her Nicole—no, humor, no conviction, no morality. She was at the mercy of whoever wanted to control her.

And right now that person was Marrow. The man who was expecting her to be the conduit to everything he’d ever desired.

What would he do when he realized that she wasn’t going to be able to deliver? Would he hurt her? Would he kill her?

Shay refused to let that happen.

There’s a way out.

The words Nicole had read from the book came back to him in a rush. Words that suddenly took on a new meaning.

What if the message hadn’t just been for Nicole? What if it had been for him as well?

Whatever Asphodel’s real name was, he had been a jinni. A jinni who had found a way out of the Realm and to Earth on his own. A way that bypassed the Gate at the palace—the only known constant portal in this world.

Which meant the way Asphodel had taken wasn’t known. It was a secret that only another jinni would know.

In a place only another jinni could find…

Elysium.

The second gate had to be here in Elysium.

Shay closed his eyes and let the power of Nicole’s soul flow through him. It pulsed out from his fingers, through the grass, and over the plains. Spreading out, the magic covered every inch of the land, searching for the lost gate.

In less than a minute the waves of magic found the spot. He drew a deep breath as the image of its location filled his mind—at the edge of the plain, nestled at the base of a hill, where the land met the sea.

It wasn’t a hidden place. Not exactly. It was just that no one had thought to look for it before. And why would they? Who would want to leave this paradise for a world without magic?

He did.

Shay took off running toward the spot.

He needed to make it back to Nicole before Marrow figured out what she’d done.

He needed to go home.

Nicole stood still as the room around her buzzed with energy.

Her eyes focused on a spot where someone had been a moment ago. Someone that she had sent away. And with him went all of her emotions. All of her hopes and fears. Everything.

She blinked and drew in a remarkably even breath. Behind her she could hear voices yelling, telling her to run. She recognized the voices. Emily Kaplan and Fenrir the Wolf. They wanted her to come with them. They thought her life was in danger.

But she didn’t understand why that mattered.

She didn’t see why anything did.

The jinni who had been standing by the door stepped into her line of sight. Emily and Fenrir yelled more warnings, but the jinni creature sent them away with a wave of his hand.

Then the jinni looked at her face for a long time.

“That was a very brave thing you did,” he said after a few minutes. “I’ve never seen someone give up their soul for another before. Especially not a jinni.”

Nicole didn’t say anything in return. Why would she? There was no point in speaking if there wasn’t a question to answer.

The jinni obviously didn’t think so, though, because he kept going.

“I’m Kain.”

She didn’t answer.

“I heard my brother call you Nicole,” he said. “I think your soul must have been very special. No wonder Shay was willing to fight so hard for you.”

Again, she blinked.

“I’m sorry that I have to bring you to Marrow,” he said. “And while I know this doesn’t mean much to you now, I promise I’ll honor my brother by doing everything I can for you out there. Just like you did everything for him.”

Then the jinni left her sight. She heard his footsteps moving over to the counter. She heard him slide something heavy off the top. A moment later, he returned with the book in his hands.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Nicole responded immediately to the command in his voice. He didn’t have to touch her or guide her forward. She knew to follow, and so she did.

She walked behind him out the door of the shop and into the street.

Two men stood on the sidewalk opposite the shop. Both were tall; both were pale.

Marrow and a fae soldier. She knew who they were, but their presence stirred nothing inside her. Her pace stayed steady as she moved toward them.

The one named Marrow stared at her intently. His eyes narrowed as she drew close. His lips curled up.

“So, it’s done,” Marrow said to the jinni.

“It is.”

“And Shay Madrid?”

“Gone,” Kain said.

“Good.” Marrow’s smile widened. “Give me the book.”

The jinni handed it over without hesitation. Marrow opened the book, and ran his hands over the pages.

“See, I told you I’d get what I wanted,” he said to her. “I have you and the book. Now nothing can stand in my way.”

The jinni started to laugh. Marrow shot him an angry look.

“What’s so funny?” Marrow asked.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” the jinni said.

“What are you blathering about?”

“Oh, I think you’re about to find out,” Kain answered.

“Just for your insolence I believe you should be the first to feel my new power,” Marrow said.

He reached out and wrapped his hand around Nicole’s arm. The tips of his fingers dug brutally into her flesh, but she didn’t flinch. She didn’t struggle. She just went where she was taken.

Marrow grabbed her hand and slammed it down on the cover of the book. “Now, kill him,” he said. “Kill him, or I’ll kill you.”

Nicole blinked. She’d never killed before. She didn’t know how.

“I have no weapon,” she said.

“No weapon?” Marrow snarled in her ear. “You have the most powerful magic any of us have ever seen at your fingertips. Now, do the same thing you did when you banished us from your ridiculous shop, and tell him to die.”

She could do that.

“Die,” Nicole said the word.

Nothing happened.

The jinni remained upright, standing before them. The smile on his face grew.

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” the jinni said. “Not anymore.”

Marrow let out a growl of frustration that rumbled down the street.

Nicole blinked, her hand still steady on the cover of the book. Marrow glared down at it before bracketing his hand around her wrist and yanking it up.

“What is going on?” he demanded. “Why aren’t you dead? Why isn’t this mortal trembling before me?”

“That’s a question you need to ask her.”

Marrow whipped Nicole around so she faced him. “Tell me.” Drops of spittle from his lips sprayed on her cheek.

“The magic in that book was bound to me by soul magic.” Her voice was flat. Totally devoid of emotion. “I no longer have a soul, so I cannot access it.”

Marrow’s lips pressed together. His face began to flush. Red spots appeared on his cheeks, nose, and forehead. His grip on her wrist intensified, growing so strong that his fingernail bit into her skin. A thin trickle of blood ran down her arm before dripping off her elbow.

“You made your last wish,” Marrow ground the words out between clenched teeth.

It wasn’t a question, so Nicole didn’t answer.

Marrow’s eyes narrowed. “What did you wish?”

“For Shay Madrid to return to Elysium.”

The red blotches on Marrow’s face grew brighter. Cords stood out in his neck as his whole body tensed. Then suddenly, he tossed Nicole down at his feet.

She landed with a thud against the pavement. She didn’t try to stop herself or break her fall. She didn’t recoil or call out when the pain shot through her legs and back. She couldn’t. Her body was no longer hers to control. Everything inside her was an empty void. She stayed where Marrow threw her.

“And you,” Marrow hissed at the jinni. “You lied to me.”

The jinni shook his head. “I did not.”

“You told me that Shay was dead. That you killed him.”

“That might have been what you heard, but it wasn’t what I said,” Kain said with a laugh. “You only asked me if he was gone. I answered truthfully.”

Marrow howled with rage. He thrust his hand out to gesture at the lone soldier at his side.

“Skewer this insolent maggot,” he commanded the fae.

The soldier straightened up, even though his knees shook. Even without a soul, Nicole could see that the fae soldier knew this was a battle he couldn’t win. Still, he brought his halberd to his side, and pointed the blade at the center of the jinni’s chest.

Kain didn’t try to get out of the soldier’s way. He didn’t dodge, or take a step back. He merely waved his hand, and the soldier crumbled to dust there on the sidewalk.

Kain smiled up at Marrow. “Next time you should remember to have your sacrificial lambs wish for their own safety as well as yours.”

“You think that you’ve won? You both think that you’ve bested me? You haven’t.” Marrow glared over the jinni. “I can still kill you with my own hands when I’m done with you.”

“Done with me?” The jinni leaned against the wall of the building at Marrow’s side. “You forget. My bond to fulfill your lackey’s wish died when he did. That means I can do whatever I like. Has it crossed your mind yet that I’m the one done with you?”

Some of the anger left Marrow’s face. What looked like fear flashed in its place for a moment.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Funny question from someone who just instructed two separate people to kill me.”

“So why haven’t you done it?” Marrow narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

“Want?” Kain laughed. “I just want to give you a fighting chance to save yourself before I erase every shred of your existence.”

“You want me to make a deal,” Marrow said flatly.

“That’s up to you,” Kain said. “Though if I were you I’d be hard-pressed to see any other option. You’re all out of underlings to do your dirty work.”

For a long moment, Marrow was quiet. Anger shone in his eyes, but also frustration. He had to know that the jinni was right. There was no doubt that the powerful creature could kill him with a thought.

“Fine,” Marrow eventually said. “Kain, I wish that you will deflect the harm that anyone tries to do to me and return it to them tenfold.”

The jinni closed his eyes and rolled his head back against the building behind him. Nicole knew he was feeling the rush of Marrow’s soul and soaking in the power it gave him.

She knew because she remembered that had happened between her and Shay. The memory didn’t stir any emotions, though. It just floated through the empty void of her mind before dissipating completely.

“I have to commend you,” Kain said. “That was very detailed wish.”

“I don’t care about your approval.” Marrow growled at him. “And don’t think this means you hold any power over me. Our deal is temporary.”

“What makes you think that?”

“As soon as I’m able to harness the magic inside this book, I’ll be more powerful than you can imagine. Powerful enough to sever the bonds of our deal and regain my soul.”

“That does sound like a powerful book.” Kain nodded slowly. “There’s only one problem. You can’t get inside it.”

“Not yet.” Marrow said. “But I still have the book, and I know where to find the soul that unlocks it.”

“But there are places that even the fae can’t go, and Elysium is one of them,” Kain said.

“True.” Marrow bent down and wrenched Nicole off the ground. “But something tells me I have the perfect bait to draw him out of it.”