We slowed our snowmobiles as we traveled through the woods, finally coming upon a small cottage built of dark brown wood. Smoke billowed from the chimney. Zoya’s friend must already be here.

We pulled to a stop near the front. As I climbed off, my legs shook like jelly.

“What an adrenaline rush,” I muttered.

“I feel it too,” Nix said. “I think my heart has been going a mile a minute for the last five hours.”

Pond Flower perked up, her ears pricking high and her nose sniffing. Then she ran toward the side of the house. A crowd of big white huskies ran from behind the house, meeting her in a cluster. There were over a dozen of them, and all were fluffy as cotton balls.

“Huskies?” I asked Zoya.

She nodded. “Yeah. We can’t take the snowmobiles from here. Too loud. Vera brought us sleds and dogs.”

“Wow.” I’d never ridden in a dogsled before. The huskies were huge—each the size of Pond Flower, who was already unnaturally large. Their blue eyes were fiercely intelligent as they greeted Pond Flower with the usual butt sniff.

Even magical dogs couldn’t resist.

The door to the cabin opened, and a small, dark-haired woman came out. Her clothes were all black tactical wear, as if she were a Navy SEAL or something. Not exactly what I’d expect from an Ice Fae. Shouldn’t she be wearing a glittery blue dress like Elsa?

Instead, she looked like a tiny package of death, able to take care of business in silence with no one the wiser.

She ran for Zoya, embracing her tightly.

“I thought I’d never see you again!” Vera cried. Her dark eyes shined with tears.

Zoya hugged her tight. “I always wanted to come back, but couldn’t.”

“I know.” Vera stepped back.

The understanding on her face made me think that there was more to Zoya’s story than I knew, but I wouldn’t press her for it. None of my business.

“Come inside.”

We followed Vera into the house. It was bigger than it had looked on the outside, with an open kitchen, living room, and several doors leading off into bedrooms. It was rustic and simple, but homey, with a fire burning in the fireplace and a pot of something savory bubbling on the stove.

Vera turned to us. “You’re here to help with the demons.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Good.” Vera nodded. “Let’s have vodka, then discuss.”

Apparently Russian Ice Fae were as into vodka as Russian humans. I had no problem with that.

My friends and I took off our coats and other warm layers, then hung them on hooks by the door.

I caught a whiff of my own scent. Sweat. “Ick. I smell.”

“We all do,” Nix muttered. “Lots of stress and heavy snowsuits do not make for a lovely potpourri.”

“There’s a hot spring out back that you can bathe in later,” Zoya said.

“Thanks.” I would definitely be making use of that.

“Help yourself to stew,” Vera said as she pulled a couple of bottles of vodka from the small refrigerator and put them on the table.

I followed my friends to the big pot on the old stove, then filled my bowl with a savory combination of vegetables and broth. Surreptitiously, I poked around the bowl to see if there was any meat in it. It looked mostly like root vegetables, so I was probably good. I tore off a hunk of bread from the loaf on the counter, then joined my friends at the table.

Zoya sat next to me, reaching over to grab a bottle of vodka. She poured shots into the little glasses, then passed them around.

“We’d be sunk without you,” I said to her. “Thank you for the help.”

She nodded, her face grave. “I owed it to my people. They are in trouble, and you are the people who can help.”

“I hope so.” My stomach growled, so I ate a bite of the stew. It was hot and rich. Amazing. I chowed down.

Vera gave us time to eat and rest, but as soon as I’d finished my bread and soup, she raised her glass of vodka and looked at us all.

I took the cue and raised mine. Everyone else did as well.

“To closing the portal,” Vera said.

We drank. The vodka burned on its way down—this was no boxed merlot—but it felt appropriate.

“So, tell us what’s going on,” Zoya said.

“The demons have taken control of our village,” Vera said. “We were prepared for it. The prophecy said this would happen, so we had a plan in place. They believe that we are on their side because it’s the only way for us to stay alive. And for me to leave with the dogs. But we aren’t on their side, and we’re ready to fight. We were planning our attack when you contacted us, Zoya.”

“Good thing I did,” Zoya said. “Unless we close the portal, you’d be fighting until you died. There will be an unending stream of demons.”

“How many demons have flooded out already?” I asked.

“Thousands.”

I dropped my glass. It thudded to the table, thankfully sturdy enough that it didn’t shatter. “Thousands?”

Vera nodded, her face grave.

“Where are they?” Roarke asked, his voice sharp and serious.

“Gone.” Vera shrugged. “There are a couple hundred in the village at any given time as they adjust to Earth. Eating our food, taking our beds. But they soon leave, scattering across the globe.”

I slumped back in my chair, devastation a wasteland within my chest. Holy shit. Thousands. I thought hundreds, perhaps. Not thousands.

“How many demons are normally on Earth?” Cass asked. “Not that many, right?

“There are a couple hundred demons dispersed on Earth at any given time,” Roarke said. “They’re primarily mercenaries taken from hell by sorcerers with the power to help them cross over. Once on Earth, they have jobs that they were brought here for. It keeps the mayhem at a manageable level.”

“Now we have thousands,” I said. “And all of them are running free, with the Shadows as their only boss.”

“And the Shadows want you dead,” Aidan said.

“Along with other things,” I said. “Which we’ll need to figure out.”

“Later,” Vera said. “The first job is to close the portal. Cut them off and keep their numbers as low as possible.”

Thousands of demons was never going to be a low number. But I nodded. She was right. One problem at a time. Then we’d take this to the government. There was no choice. We were in over our head.

And I’d gotten us here.

I’d thought closing the portal would be my big battle. Nope.

Fighting thousands of demons was definitely the big one. And we still had to close the portal before we could even consider it.

“Are the Shadows in the village?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. They came through already and are gone.”

“Damn. Are you sure we can’t leave now?” I asked. “To get there sooner?”

Vera’s eyes hardened. “Absolutely not. We’ll never make it in the dark. Not only are the traps hard to find, there are night monsters.”

Great. After the magical giant crabs, I wasn’t going to argue.

“We will leave right at first light,” Vera said. “My people will help you however we can.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Could you use your gift to turn back time right at the portal?” Nix asked. “You could go all the way back to when the portal was first formed and stop all the demons from ever coming out at all. Two birds with one stone.”

It was so tempting to try it. I could almost taste it.

I met Roarke’s gaze. Worry and skepticism darkened his eyes as he said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

I nodded. “He’s right. It’s been days that the portal has been open. Turning back time and changing history is forbidden. It’s so dangerous.”

“Having all those demons out there is dangerous,” Nix said.

“You’re right. But who knows what they’ve done while they’ve been out there? Bad things, yes. But sometimes bad inspires the greatest good. What if there’s someone out there who is being inspired to become a hero in the future?”

“I don’t know.” Doubt shadowed Nix’s voice.

“It’s not that far-fetched. Think of us. Our time in the Monster’s prison was horrible. But it brought us together and formed our future. And the world needed us to be together, so we could do the things we do.”

Understanding lit Nix’s gaze. “That’s a good point.”

An idea flared in my mind. “Cass, why don’t you call Aethelred. Have him scry to see if there’s any harm in us turning back time at the portal. I’m convinced it’s a bad idea, but having a second opinion will make us feel better.”

“Good idea.” Cass pulled her cell phone from her pocket and punched in the numbers. She waited a few moments, and I heard the low rumble of Aethelred’s voice grumbling about something.

Cass offered to pay him, then asked our question. There was a long silence. I had another shot of vodka as we waited, my nerves totally on edge. The liquor burned its way down my throat, warming my belly.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Cass nodded as she talked to Aethelred. “A few minutes? Okay, great. Thank you.”

She hung up the phone and looked at the crowd. “Our resident seer says that Del is right. Aethelred wouldn’t tell me what would happen if we turned back time, only than it was a terrible idea in the long run. Extremely dangerous.”

“Damn.” Nix sagged. “That would have been great.”

Disappointment filled my chest too. Nix was right. It would have been the safest, easiest way to fix this.

“But he did say that we could turn back time a couple minutes. There shouldn’t be as much risk there, since it’s such a short amount of time. You’re only turning back time at the portal, and those demons will only just have gotten onto Earth. They won’t have had enough time to get out and change history.”

“Every little bit helps, right?” I looked around the table. “We might as well do that.”

“Agreed,” Roarke said. “No large scale turning back time, but if Aethelred says that a few minutes is okay, we’ll do that.”

“Perfect,” Vera said. “You’ll close the portal. We’ll save our village.”

I smiled, trying to keep the worry off of my face.

* * *

After we’d cleaned up our dishes, I went with Nix and Cass for the first round of baths in the hot springs. The night air was freezing when we stepped outside, hurting my lungs as I drew it in.

But the sky was spectacular. Brilliant sweeps of green and yellow stretched across the sky, dancing and swirling. They cast a low glow on the silver birch trees in the forest. The rest of the night was black.

“The northern lights,” Cass murmured.

“Amazing.” I’d never seen them before. This had to be a good luck sign.

Pond Flower lay in the snow, gazing up at the lights. She looked so happy.

I grinned at her, then followed Cass and Nix along the path to the hot springs. The snow was tamped down, making it easier to walk.

The spring was only about five yards from the back of the house. The clear water gleamed green and yellow, reflecting the northern lights. Rocks surrounded it, a natural fissure in the ground. There was a wooden box near the side of the pool. I brushed the snow off, then put my towel on the top.

I looked at the snow, then my deirfiúr. “We’re going to have to make this quick.”

“No kidding,” Cass said.

As fast as I could, I stripped out of my clothes and climbed into the water. My feet were icy from standing in the snow for even a second, so the water burned hot and fierce. But as I sank into the depths, my muscles relaxed and my skin adjusted.

“That’s amazing,” I sighed.

“No kidding.” Nix sat on the rock next to me.

“It’s like a natural hot tub,” Cass said. “Except a bit more precarious.”

She was right. We had to perch on rocks that were basically like benches, but not quite. However, the silver birch trees and northern lights more than made up for the lack of comfortable seating. I’d take this any day. It was even nicer than Roarke’s fancy grotto bathroom.

I shifted around, finally finding a comfortable spot and leaning my head back against the rock to watch the northern lights.

“Why do you think we were chosen to be the three sides of the Triumvirate?” I asked.

Cass blew out a breath. “Whew. No idea.”

“I think it’s because we’re worthy,” Nix said.

“Cass is,” I said. “She’s already finished her part.”

“Not really,” Cass said. “I finished my part, but my job isn’t done yet. We’re each part of the whole. Without one of us, the whole thing fails. So my job isn’t over until yours is. I couldn’t have defeated the Monster without you. So now it’s my turn to help.”

She had a good point. Without her, I wouldn’t have made it through many of these challenges. Same with Nix.

“I think that’s why,” Nix said. “We’re powerful and fated to have some seriously strong magic, but it’s also that we’re a team. Like you said about our time with the Monster joining us together. We’re an unbreakable bond. And when it comes to fighting big battles, we’re three for the price of one. We each have our big job to do, but we have the others to help us.”

I grinned, looking down from the brilliant night sky and meeting the gazes of my deirfiúr. “I like that.”

“Me too,” Cass said. “We’re a team.”

“Always have been,” I said.

“Always will be,” Nix added.

* * *

We cleared out of the hot spring not much later. The guys still hadn’t had a chance to get cleaned up, and I was suddenly so sleepy I couldn’t keep my eyes open. A combo of exertion, fear, stew, vodka, and a long soak in a hot tub had made me feel like a noodle.

We all bedded down on the couches and in spare bedrooms. They were rustic and small, but the beds were warm and the walls kept out the wind, so it was perfect for me. I took a smallish double bed and passed out.

Sometime later, Roarke joined me, but I was too tired to do much more than snuggle into him like a heat-seeking missile that moved super slowly.

Reality shifted from dark slumber to dreams. The blackness of my eyelids gave way to an image of my mother, sitting by the fire. She was rocking in a chair, reading a book. Just seeing her made me happy, as if I knew she’d give me a hug.

Closer inspection revealed that she was semitransparent. Ghostly. Nearby, a small portal glimmered. It looked like a portal to the Underworld—like the kind outside of Roarke’s house in Magic’s Bend.

So this wasn’t the past. Which made sense, since my mother from the past would never hug me. Nor would she sit in a rocking chair by the fire. But perhaps it could be the future?

Now that my mother had realized how the dark magic of the Underworld had affected her, might she want an actual relationship with me? She’d shaken off the yoke of evil and was trying to convince my father that they’d made a mistake in helping the demons. If I was strong enough and smart enough to fix the problems facing me, perhaps I could use my portal skill to visit with my parents.