Sard it all. My jaw dropped. My eyes scanned the stone beasts. There had to be at least a hundred of them. A hundred stone giants who could repel most spells, fly without getting tired, who could use their bodies to break down castle walls.

  We’d gone from hopeless to fierce in a single instant. Evaness had a chance. We had a chance. I gave a sigh that was half disbelief and half relief. Tears filled my eyes and I hugged Quinn tighter to me. But he didn’t share my joy. In my arms, Quinn still shuddered, his face buried in my neck. I stroked his hair and glanced back at Blue.

  “His price is a living nightmare,” my new knight reminded me.

  Horror flashed like lightning through me.

  I put my hands on either side of Quinn’s face and pulled him up to meet my gaze. His red-rimmed eyes stared at me.

  Quinn? I asked in my mind.

  He didn’t answer.

  I imagined a little squirrel on his shoulder, shaking its tail in his face.

  He didn’t respond.

  I gave a sob and smashed Quinn back into my chest, wrapping myself around him.

  My knight. My poor silent knight.

  He’d given us a chance in this war. But he’d lost the only means of communication he’d ever had. Even the magic beads from Donaloo couldn’t overcome the price of wish magic.

  Quinn was stuck inside his own head. Alone.

  Chapter Two

  Connor was the first of my knights to come forward and embrace Quinn. One by one my other husbands did the same, even Blue.

  I was touched to see them show their support, their solidarity. But at the same time, I was sick to my stomach for him.

  Once my knights had hugged him, I made my way over. I stared into his eyes for a long moment, then rose up on my tiptoes and said, “I love you, husband.” I pressed a soft kiss against his lips. Slowly, that kiss turned into more and my hands sneaked up to wrap around Quinn’s neck. Quinn put his hands on my waist.

  Behind us, someone started up a whispered chant. “Dip her. Dip her.” Soon enough, all of my idiots had joined in.

  I could feel Quinn’s smile grow as we kissed and suddenly my head was falling backward. He dipped me so low my hair brushed the mud. Then he pulled me up and released me.

  Quinn nodded to the group in thanks, but I could still see the devastation swimming in his eyes. He’d never told me much about his childhood or the years before Donaloo had gifted him with the beads, but I knew he adored the wizard, and that the beads had changed his life significantly. By the way he stared off in the distance, ignoring the gargoyles, I knew this living nightmare tugged at his soul. And that made my heart ache. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to feel like you were trapped in your body, unable to reach out or voice your pain.

  I looked to Cerena, but she shook her head. “I know no way to counter it.”

  I slid my hand through Quinn’s. “We’ll find a solution,” I told him softly.

  He nodded, but his eyes wouldn’t meet mine. He didn’t seem to believe me.

  Blue stepped forward, wringing his hands. “I’m sorry, Quinn. For what happened. I don’t know how it did. But the nightmare, it’s not forever. It’s temporary, just like any nightmare.”

  My heart swelled. I whirled to stare at my newest knight. “How long?”

  He shrugged. “It depends. The bigger the wish, the longer the nightmare.”

  Declan asked, “How large would you rate this wish?”

  Blue’s deep brown eyes flicked over the gargoyles that surrounded us. “It’s not the largest wish I’ve seen come true, but it’s pretty massive. I’d guess the nightmare might last several days. A week even.”

  Quinn’s shoulders sunk.

  We all stared out at the gargoyles for a minute, their eyes unblinking. How did Quinn get wish magic? How did these gargoyles come to be? I was utterly thankful he’d wished for gargoyles, because any other winged animals would have been chaos. These stone giants simply sat awaiting orders.

  Declan cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. "Does anyone else think … that it's possible that our powers didn't completely go away?"

  His words were a punch to the gut and a bird taking flight in the same moment—shock and hope. My mind reeled and wistfulness fluttered in my stomach. Was that possible? Could some remnant of power still surround my men?

  Blue responded first, with a shake of his head. “A wish won’t let you bring someone back the same—"

  "I know that. But Quinn’s magic isn’t the same. He’s never had djinn power before. How did Quinn get wishing powers? I think the magic transposed our powers. I think that was the change it wrought. I suspect he has your powers." Declan’s words were sunlight piercing a cloudy sky.

  Yes, please, my mind whispered. Let him be right. Let it be true.

  I had never wished for anything as much as I wished for this.

  Quinn’s gaze turned from the distance; he focused on Declan’s pale face. Then Quinn and Blue exchanged a startled glance.

  Declan tapped his lips in thought and then said, "Quinn, see how fast you can run."

  My knight released my hand and stepped back, staring down at his feet and lifting them, as though testing his own weight. Quinn started off at a normal jog through the mud, the splatter coating his calves. But then, suddenly, out of nowhere, he disappeared—leaving nothing but a spray of mud behind him.

  My heart leapt. Yes! Hope, happiness, relief swept through me like a flood, nearly taking my feet out from under me.

  Seconds later, my spy master returned, a triumphant smile on his face as he stopped right in front of Declan. My blond knight was hit by a jet of mud that reached all the way to his nose.

  Declan grinned, and immediately started choking on mud. He wiped his mouth and spat. But he didn’t mention the mud. His relief was evident as his hand went over his heart. "Thank goodness. There’s still magic."

  Quinn clapped Declan on the shoulder, a grin on my silent knight’s face.

  Blue said, “Check your pockets for a ring. If you’re a part-djinni, you’ll have a ring.”

  Quinn patted his pockets and removed a simple black ring with a small diamond on it. He stared at it and blinked for a moment, then handed it to me.

  “Why don’t you keep—” I said.

  But Quinn shook his head and closed my fingers around the ring. I slid it on my thumb, surprised when it fit perfectly.

  “Be careful with that. If someone else gets ahold of it, they can make wishes and he’ll have to grant them,” Blue warned.

  “Can anyone just take it?” I closed my fingers into a fist, alarmed.

  Blue wavered his hand in the air. “Physically, yes. They could take it from you. Magically, the ring is tied to you. So, if you mean—can it be wished away? The answer to that is no.”

  Ryan took a step forward and his deep baritone was hushed as he asked, “Does that mean that the rest of us have powers?"

  Everyone glanced around the circle.

  Connor ran a hand through his very messy dark curls. "I haven’t felt anything since we've been brought back, but in all honesty, I don't know what any of your powers feel like. I've always been so overwhelmed with emotion that everything now feels … empty. As if I were completely alone."

  Blue jumped in. "I can't tell if anything is different, because everything is different for me. With these beads, I'm constantly hearing everyone's thoughts and it's just a constant barrage of military formations and worries about the castle, and which spells to use—"

  "Which spells to use? Who's been thinking about what spells to use?” I interrupted, scanning faces.

  Cerena slowly raised her wrinkled hand. Her eyes darted from me to Blue. "I was trying to think of a spell that might help any of them." My castle mage shrugged, her sagging eyes keen. “I haven’t come up with anything, though.”

  My eyes scanned the rest of my knights. "Can anyone else hear Cerena’s thoughts?"

  Everyone else shook their heads.

  Quinn gestured to get our attention. He put his hand to his throat and drew it upward, like his hand was spilling out his mouth.

  “Talk,” Declan muttered. “That’s true. How can you still talk?” He tilted his head and studied Blue.

  Blue shrugged. “Am I not supposed to be able to?”

  Ryan said, “Quinn has never been able to talk.”

  Declan’s eyes narrowed. “I wonder … Blue, focus on Cerena’s thoughts. Cerena, focus on a spell. Blue, try to recite it.”

  Blue turned and stared at Cerena as though she were a test that a tutor had set. His eyes widened; I could tell the moment he got the gist of her thoughts. And his mouth opened, but nothing came out. He opened wider. He beat at his chest, tried to clear his throat. He visually yelled, but not a drop of noise spilled from his lips.

  Declan walked over to stand in front of Cerena, blocking Blue’s view. “Stop reading her mind.”

  Blue squinted hard, but eventually, he straightened. He opened his mouth and at first, only the tiniest sound could be heard. But eventually, he was able to talk again. “What was all that?” he asked.

  Quinn strode back over to Declan and threw his arms wide, his gesture shouting, “How is this possible?”

  Declan glanced between the two men, thinking. I could almost see his mind whirling as he ran through the options. He held up a hand, as if telling both men to stay calm. “Now, this is just a theory. But, I wonder, because your power isn’t innate for Blue, he wasn’t born with it, if it takes effort for him to use it. And when he’s not using it, it seems like he can speak. I mean, my power—my old power—didn’t require constant reductions. I only had to reduce when I multiplied.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure why I never thought of this before. I just always assumed some powers were absorbent versus creative and the absorbent powers were constant. No study has ever shown they could be turned off—”

  Ryan interrupted, “But no one’s ever switched powers before, have they?”

  Declan shook his head. “No. Not that I’ve read. Perhaps the absorbent powers were only constant for you and Connor because you were born with them. And you didn’t know that you could turn them off.”

  We all stood as we realized what that meant. But my heart gave a leap when I realized what that meant for Quinn. I rushed over to him and said, “This means you can speak!” I grabbed his hand and pressed it to my chest.

  Quinn’s jaw dropped.

  Connor came over and put a hand on my shoulders. “It means he can learn to use his vocal chords, Bloss. But it will take practice. He’s never spoken before.”

  Quinn opened his mouth and emitted what sounded like a moan. He was so surprised by the noise that he jumped.

  But I jumped after him and threw my hands around his waist. I hugged him hard.

  Connor just smiled. “I’m certain he’ll get the hang of it and be insulting us all in no time.”

  Ryan piped up. “Yes. Connor’s an expert at useless talking, Quinn can learn from the best.”

  Connor rolled his eyes but grinned at Quinn when my silent knight threw his arm around my best friend’s shoulder.

  Declan interjected. “Before we get off track onto subjects like talking … Blue has Quinn's powers and it seems that Quinn has Blue’s.”

  If two of them had swapped, could my other knights have switched powers as well? "Someone else describe what your powers feel like, so we can see if they've transferred to someone else." I ordered.

  "If anyone's feeling particularly emotional … I know today has been a trying day for all of us, but if you're feeling random bits of emotion, like you’re being tugged in a thousand different directions at once … if your tongue tastes a bit funny—that’s the mix of emotions, and when there are so many, it can be a bit like mud—”

  Declan's hand immediately shot into the air.

  Ryan tried to push Declan’s hand down. “Quinn just made you eat mud.”

  Declan pulled his hand away and pushed it back up. “I know. But I tasted it even before it started raining. Emotionally, I just thought I was having a panic attack. I thought I was finally going off the deep end, or that my system was on the fritz from having died and come back. Thank the gods I'm not crazy." Declan threw his head back and laughed. "I don't know how you stand this all the time, Connor. It's sarding awful."

  Connor shrugged. "I didn’t have a choice.”

  “Did you ever get used to it?”

  Connor wavered his hand side to side. “Sort of.”

  “Ever like it?”

  They shared a long look, and I felt awful as I realized how much Connor had truly hated his own power. He’d never outright said it to me. I hadn’t ever asked.

  He said, “Sorry. In time, you get used to it. You start to sort out whose emotions are whose, and eventually, even kind of decide which emotions are actually yours."

  Declan shook his head. "Does it always taste bad?”

  Connor shrugged. “I think spite has kind of a black licorice tinge.”

  “What about joy?”

  “Being around Bloss always tasted like raspberries to me. So, if you like raspberries …”

  Declan waggled his brows. “I definitely like raspberries.” Then he pitched his head back and laughed. “This is the worst power in the history of the universe. And I have it." He declared between bouts of laughter that grew steadily louder until he was doubled over and gasping, clutching his ribs.

  I stepped forward and grabbed his arm. “Dec?”

  He started to cough again. But he didn’t stop laughing. He laughed and coughed in fits, until Ryan started smacking his back. “Are you choking?”

  Declan tittered, “I think … it tastes … like powdered … sugar.”

  I turned to Connor, filled with alarm. “Is he okay?" Connor had never reacted this way, ever.

  Connor nodded. "I think the giddiness we are all feeling—the hope that we might actually still have some sort of power, some sort of usefulness—might be getting to him."

  Connor's prediction turned out to be true. Only seconds later, Declan started to jump up and down in the mud, splashing all of us until we backed away. "I feel so happy!” he crowed.

  "Well, you look like a nutter," Ryan scolded, but he was smiling. My giant clapped his hands together. "So, Declan got Connor's powers. If there were three powers left, the three of us couldn't do a one-for-one swap like Quinn and Blue. So that would mean, if the wish switched our powers. Aw, shite. I have Declan's powers."

  "Hey! My powers were amazing!" Declan called from his jumping spot.

  "It took you years to learn how to master your powers," Ryan shot back, covering his face with his hand. "Do you all remember how many rolls of parchment Declan went through making his lists of opposites?"

  I bit my lip. As a teenager Declan had always been scribbling something on parchment. Always. We hadn’t spoken much back then. I hadn’t known what he’d been doing. But that made sense. He knew which rocks to switch, which crops to rotate, he had it all dialed down to a very precise sort of science.

  He rolled his eyes. “Dec, what’s the opposite of coriander?”

  “Cilantro,” Declan’s jumping slowed. “But you cannot switch coriander to cilantro, you can only do the other way around.”

  “See—what the hell is that? How am I supposed to figure out the opposite of every stinking thing?”

  “Ask me,” Declan answered.

  Ryan sighed. “Can I reduce this mud and get us some dry dirt?”

  “Carefully. Keep your focus,” Declan stated.

  But Ryan had already stretched out his palm. Yellow light radiated from it.

  Suddenly, my mouth felt dry as a bone. Because Ryan hadn’t just taken the water out of the dirt, he’d taken it out of the very air around us. I was so parched that I started wheezing and coughing. Around me, everyone did the same.

  “Shite!” Ryan tried to reverse the spell, which created a giant, suspended ball of water that slowly descended on us, choking us in an entirely different fashion. I sputtered as the water fell past my shoulders toward the ground, cupping my hands as it passed and bringing as much as I could to my lips to drink. My knights and Cerena did the same.

  “Sard it all, sorry,” my giant knight apologized. I think he blushed, but it was hard to tell, we were all so flush from the near drowning.

  Connor looked at Ryan. “If you have Declan’s powers, and he has mine, then I must have healing.”

  The scratch on my arm—the one I’d made to test Ryan’s healing outside the cave—wasn’t deep, but I shoved back my sleeve and held it out toward my best friend.

  Connor stared at it pensively, then looked at Ryan.

  “How do you—”

  “I’d feel safer if you tested it on me,” Ryan said, grabbing a small dagger and slicing his palm. “Think of this kind of shallow wound healing as a delicate process like sewing. It’s about precision. You need the tiniest thread of magic, gather it in your palm and—”

  Pink magic blasted out of Connor’s hands, into all of us. My scratch instantly mended, but I was left dizzy and my tongue felt heavy.

  “Whass happening?” I asked, my words slurred. I nearly lost my balance and had to grab onto Quinn to stay upright. My stomach churned.

  Around me, no one looked much better. Cerena muttered under her breath, but my knights were all holding their heads.

  “Too much,” Ryan gritted out. “Too much healing is like an overdose of medicine. It can make you—”

  Next to him, Declan doubled over and threw up. That made Ryan start to dry heave. Then Blue.

  Quinn and I turned away before we were drawn into the cycle.

  The gargoyles sat there still as stones, as unaffected by our puke as they’d been by our blasts of magic.

  Cerena’s muttering grew louder and she finished a spell, flicking her fingers as she walked and spitting at each of our feet.

  As soon as she passed, I felt better. My head cleared and my stomach stopped roiling.

 

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