“He’s not going to fall for this crap, is he?” Tamani whispered – but Chelsea just raised one eyebrow.

“What, you? Please,” David said.

Chelsea shot Tamani a triumphant smile.

Klea sighed, but she sounded more annoyed than disappointed. “Well, can’t say I didn’t try. Enjoy your moment in the sun, David; it will be over before you know it. Now we really must be off. As the humans say, I have bigger fish to fry.”

“I’m not letting you pass,” David said, stepping on to the path in front of the group as Tamani drew himself to his feet.

Klea pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and ran her fingers through her hair as if she had nothing better to do in the world. It was strange to see her without her ever-present dark lenses – to see the light green eyes rimmed by thick, dark lashes that gave her face a beauty and softness that contradicted everything else about her.

“David, you need to play more poker; you bluff like a child. Now, I’ve heard legends of Excalibur – which is what I suspect you’ve got there – and I can guess from the way you’ve been stalling that something about the enchantment prevents you from actually harming me with it. So I’m going to walk past you now. Stop me if you can,” she said wryly, turning toward the Winter Palace and pulling her gun out again.

Excalibur glinted as David swung toward Klea. She didn’t even flinch.

But he wasn’t aiming for her.

With a clang the sword sliced through her gun, then David turned and made short work of the guns in her soldiers” hands as well. Several leaped back in surprise, but they were too busy protecting their skin to realise it was their weapons he was after. Some of them tried to shoot him again, only to have their guns severed in two. Barrels, stocks, and springs soon littered the ground, along with spent brass and deflected bullets.

Tamani took advantage of the confusion to lunge from the tree line and twist Klea’s arms up behind her, his spear returning to her throat, but Klea kicked back and Tamani yelped as her heel connected with his knee. Laurel clenched her fists in frustration, hating that she couldn’t do anything without getting in the way.

“Stop it!” Yuki yelled, flinging an arm towards David, palm up, fingers extended. She flexed her hand into a fist and several tree roots, as big around as David’s chest, burst from the ground in an explosion of dirt and rock. They rocketed towards him and Laurel heard a strangled scream from Chelsea, but the instant any tendril touched David, it went limp, slumping back towards the ground.

Yuki gasped and thrust her hands towards the grass at his feet and the roots sucked back into the earth, scattering soil like raindrops across the clearing. She looked to Klea, but Tamani had her on her knees now, bent forwards with his spear pressed against her back.

“Chelsea,” Laurel whispered, never taking her eyes from Yuki, “stay here. Element of surprise. It’s the only thing we have left.” Aside from David, Chelsea was the only one who could surprise the Winter faerie, the only one Yuki couldn’t sense at a distance. They’d used that advantage to capture her after the dance – last night, Laurel realised, though it seemed forever ago – perhaps they could accomplish something similar here.

Chelsea nodded as Laurel rose.

“Yuki,” Laurel said, stepping forwards tentatively with her hands held up in front of her.

“Stay where you were, Laurel,” Tamani called, his voice strained. But Laurel shook her head. Yuki was too powerful for Tamani to fight without Jamison’s help. Maybe Laurel could talk her down.

“Please, you can’t really want this. You’ve been with us – all of us – for the past four months. We never wanted to hurt anyone, much less kill them. Yes, Avalon has its problems, but is it worth this?”

“Kill her, Yuki,” Klea called.

Yuki’s chin trembled. “It’s a society built on lies, Laurel. You don’t know what they do in secret. It’s for the greater good, in the long run.”

“Says who?” Laurel said sharply. “Her?” she asked, pointing at Klea, still fighting to get free of Tamani. “I’ve seen the way she treats you. She’s not noble and strong; she’s a scared bully. She killed all those faeries in the Academy. They’re dead, Yuki.”

But Yuki’s eyes were narrowed. “It was just a fire, Laurel.”

“And the red gas? Almost a thousand Autumn faeries are dead because of her – never mind the faeries killed by trolls.”

“They’re not dead – they’re just sleeping.”

Laurel’s jaw dropped and she spun to Klea now. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Klea said calmly.

“The red smoke? I know what it does,” Laurel said. They were dead. She knew it; Klea knew it.

And Klea had lied to Yuki.

“Yuki, you have to listen to me – we’re not the ones lying to you. Klea is. After the fire she sent that red stuff in and it killed everyone it touched. Not sleeping – dead. She’s not what you think she is. She’s a murderer.”

Yuki blinked, but in her eyes, Laurel could see her decision was made. “She said you’d say that,” Yuki said softly, steadily. She turned and looked at Tamani. Then, so low Laurel barely heard, Yuki whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Roots erupted from the earth again, forming a dark, mossy birdcage around Laurel. Then the ground round David retreated, pulled back by a million tiny filaments of plant matter, forming a doughnut-shaped pit around him – too far to jump over without a running start, too deep to climb out of easily.