The forest blurred as we charged through it, all pretense of stealth forgotten. My lungs didn’t burn, and my muscles didn’t ache, but the chaos of adrenaline and fear churned in my gut. I knew they were close behind us; the magic pulsing at their fingertips was undeniable.
Just days before the Fae arrived, Emiliano had shared his theory with me. He believed that the spell cast by the six High Lords was meant to tear down the boundaries between our realms, forging a permanent portal that would bind our worlds’ fates. Such a portal could save the Fae realm from extinction but doom humans to face the unpredictable powers of the Fae. Emiliano thought I held that same power—the very key to bridging the two realms. But Leonardo’s theory ran even deeper: he believed that I *was* the bridge, the
