Instantly, Bridgette was beside me, pushing a hand on my shoulder and forcing me back down. “This is… this is serious,” she managed through a tight breath. “And you’re wrong. Your powers aren’t the only way to save Max.” She hesitated. “We still don’t know exactly what’s happening to him, but just give us a chance. Chi, don’t you dare use your powers if they cost you this much.”
I pressed my lips into a mirthless smile and stared at her. “What choice do I have?” I began to close my eyes.
That would be when she leaned over, grabbed my shoulders, and gave me an unholy shake. The kind of shake that could jostle your head clean off.
I opened my eyes and stared at her. Bridgette leaned in, her smile not exactly kind. “I said don’t you dare use your powers if they cost you this much. Especially if you used them recently against the Lonely King,” she said. “The more often you use them, the harder it will be to break free from them. And if you’re right, and they lock you into a future you don’t get to pick, then they’re not worth it,” she said simply and firmly.
I stared at her, unable to mask my surprise. “Of course they are worth it if they can save people.”
She shook her head, and there was a bitter edge to the move. “It happened to my mom, you know,” she interjected. “Not all magic can be practiced. Some magic – especially seriously powerful stuff – simply costs too much. Call it universal insurance,” she said through a halting laugh. “The universe has to balance its power, right? This isn’t the movies. You can’t have one all-powerful superhero running around doing whatever they want. That’s why magic costs in the first place. You have to be circumspect about using it, so you can keep balance,” she said, and on the word balance, her voice rang with a peculiar deep note that I swore shifted through me. “So, Chi, you absolutely can’t use your magic if it costs you so much. Trust me, we’ll find some other way.”
I looked up into her gaze and withered under the sheer force of her stare. For a second, I honestly believed what she was saying. Then Sarah walked over to Max and took a sharp breath. One that didn’t just punch through the room but tore through my newfound resolve.
I jolted out of the chair, pushing past Bridgette as I staggered toward Sarah. “What is it?” I demanded.
For the first time, Sarah turned and acknowledged me, gaze flicking down my injuries. I was still in the same jeans I’d worn to the foundry, and they were still just as torn and bloodied. I would have looked a right sight.
“It’s okay, Chi. We’ve got this. Just sit back. That being said,” she suddenly whirled on her foot and faced me, “if you can use your powers—”
Bridgette jolted forward as if she thought Sarah’s words would reach out and strangle me. “No. She can’t use her powers – they cost her too much. We can do this without them.” Bridgette appeared to look thoughtful for several seconds and quickly clicked her fingers. She returned her attention to me, and I couldn’t deny the urgent sense to her gaze. “Before this mess with the Lonely King began, you said you knew where your fairy contract with Max was. You weren’t lying, right? You know what it is and where to find it?”
I stared at her blankly and nodded, a peculiar sense starting to build through my stomach. Though ostensibly this entire adventure had begun with that book, I’d never paid it much attention. What was it exactly? Why was it that only I could pick it up and to everyone else it apparently weighed more than a mountain? And why exactly did it exist? Could it be more than a paper reminder of what McCain had done to my family? Why would he even need it? I’d seen how he’d cursed Mary – pressing the flat of his magical palm against her face. So what, exactly, was the purpose of that book?
Bridgette kept a hand locked on my shoulder, and she brought me back to reality. She took a hissing breath through her teeth. “We need to get it and bring it back here. It could be the key to why we can’t wake Max up. That contract will have a scrap of his soul inside. All we need to do is find it, bring it back here, and cast a few spells on it. It will help us figure out what’s going on.”
At first, Sarah Anne frowned, but once Bridgette had finished, she started nodding vehemently. “If such a contract exists, that’s the perfect plan.” She turned her attention to me, and I could see just how stressed and pressured she was.
Again, I couldn’t help but question what her relationship with Max was. Or, should I say, had been. As I darted my gaze toward him once more, I couldn’t deny that his body was as still as a dead man’s.
I offered a tight nod. “I’ll go and get it. Just wait here.” I turned around sharply, knowing full well I didn’t have the time to discuss any more details.
Bridgette shifted around and matched my move. “Hey, sure as hell you aren’t going on your own. Not in your state. Plus, are you sure you got the Lonely King?”
I turned to her and nodded. “That guy’s dead. He’ll give us no more trouble. You don’t have to come.”
“I want to come,” she said. She afforded me a rare smile. One that wouldn’t last.
As I turned and pushed toward the door, I locked my mind on the contract. Ostensibly, it sounded
