The ghost was flickering badly.
“Stop that.”
A spark of light in the corner of her eye. Eli looked down and saw through her skin a constellation of granite and hawthorn and pearl under the surface. Blink. Her arm faded to light, to nothingness. Blink, and she was solid again.
The ghost opened his mouth in a sucking O, or maybe a question, or a cry for help. Then he vanished.
Eli wrapped her arms around her knees and prayed to be left behind. But she vanished, anyway.
What happened, when a girl turned to light, taken over by the magic of a distant world?
What did it feel like?
Flashes of memory — golden trees, rocks like giant teeth. No sense of time. No sense of being one. She was everything and nothing.
Where did she go?
She didn’t know that, either.
All she knew was waking up — but that wasn’t the right word, because she was never asleep, never more aware of the taste of sunlight and the scent of shadow than when she was her true self, the Heart freed from the prison of matter.
One moment she was on the roof and the next she was in a field of flowers stained indigo. Then she was in Tav’s bedroom, staring at the rumpled sheets they never bothered to make, stray purple hairs on the pillow. Then in the attic apartment with wine stains and dust bunnies. Cam and Tav, deep in conversation, fell silent and stared at her. She placed a shaky hand on the counter for support and tried a smile.
“Miss me?”
“Can’t you use the fire escape like a normal person?” complained Cam. “You know that scares the shit out of me.”
“What’s the point in being the Heart if I can’t enjoy it?” she said.
Cam had several heartsick, heartbreak, and heart-attack puns ready.
Eli let herself exhale and fell into a mantra that was half truth and half wish. I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.
THE HEALER
Tav watched Eli for signs of pain, fatigue, or weakness. There had been a moment, after the battle, when Eli had been pressed against them on the bike, and Tav thought she was finally opening, finally letting them in.
But that door had slammed shut, and not even Tav’s magic could open it again.
“How are you feeling?” Tav winced at the sound of their own voice, so careful and tentative.
“I said I’m fine.” Eli’s nails tapped on the wooden arm of the sofa. “We’re losing time and momentum. We need to do the main seam. The Vortex.”
“Closing the Hedge-Witch’s seam was hard,” said Tav. “Eli —”
“Don’t say my name like that.” Pure-black eyes snapped to meet Tav’s. “I’m fine. We have to do this.”
“We will.” Tav took a shaky breath. “But we need to make sure we’re ready —”
“I’m ready.” Her voice was clear and strong, but Tav could hear the chords of uncertainty underneath. “This mission matters more than anything.”
“That sounds like the old you,” said Cam quietly. “Your purpose —”
“Do you want to let the world die?” Eli snapped. “We have to do this. Alone.”
Tav nodded. They looked away, unable to meet Eli’s gaze.
“Tonight,” said Eli firmly. She was starting to fade, her body slipping into the Heart. Losing herself in it.
What would happen if she didn’t come back this time?
Tav had already decided. They needed the Hedge-Witch.
“Early morning,” they said. “We have to set the wards, keep humans out. We don’t want collateral damage.”
Eli’s body had disappeared, but her face was still visible, and her eyes were sad. “I think it’s a little late for that, don’t you?”
When she was gone, Tav sank back against the old sofa and closed their eyes. Maybe Eli wasn’t the only one who was coming apart. “We need help, Cam.”
“I’ll go,” said Cam. “I’ll bring the message to the Hedge-Witch. You need to rest.”
“No.” The word felt like gravel scraping their throat as they regurgitated it. “It has to be me.”
“Why? I don’t —”
“Let it go, Cam. Just — I’ll go. Wait here.”
“I’m always waiting here.” His voice was soft, but with an edge of tension. “Look, I can help.”
“You do help. You saved us back there, remember? We need you. And I don’t know that we should trust the Hedge-Witch.” Tav felt the truth behind their words as soon as they spoke them, and it chilled their blood. The Hedge-Witch had welcomed them into their home, had birthed them into the world of magic. Tav felt the new distance between them like a cut. Eli’s mistrust was contagious.
“I’ve worked with her, too, you know. You’re not the only one.”
“Did you give Eli the blade back?” Tav changed the subject. They didn’t want to talk about the Hedge-Witch with him. He didn’t understand. He had never been close to her the way Tav had been.
“Yes.” Cam’s brow was furrowed. “She seemed afraid of it.”
“Did she say anything to you?”
“No.”
Tav put their head in their hands. Another complication. An assassin who wouldn’t use her knives. A girl who kept disappearing. An unstable Heart.
“Well, keep an eye on her.”
“I was planning to.”
Shaking their head, Tav stood. “If — when — Eli rematerializes, tell her …” Their voice trailed off.
“Tell her what?” Cam handed Tav their jacket, worry in his eyes. Tav didn’t want to see it, so they looked away.
“Nothing. Don’t tell her anything.”
Cam’s reproachful stare followed them out the door, down the stairs, and into the night.
THE HEART
Eli reappeared in front of the ghost, mouth full of the taste of honey, light pouring out of her body. Hands went to her blades, slipping — still — over the empty sheath, falling on stone and pearl. She bared her teeth.
He turned to face her.
The cold wind whipped her hair around her face. Her bangs were getting too long — they caught in her glasses and eyelashes. The wind ruffled the collar of his coat and
