But Laurel refused to be manipulated by clever words and half truths; even if Klea had been legitimately wronged, nothing could justify the destruction she’d wrought. “So you decided to kill everybody? How is that better? All of those soldiers at the gate, the faeries in the Academy.” Tamani, Yuki, she added in her mind, then had to push the thought away before despair overwhelmed her. Laurel had to keep Klea talking. She had to get her hands on that antidote.

“You’re too sensitive.”

Laurel thought of Yeardley’s words and the tiny red flower in her pocket. “I’m no more sensitive than I should be – than any Autumn faerie should be.”

“Irrational, then. You think I’m a monster, don’t you? That I simply go around killing people, thinking, Huzzah, death!” She shook her head with a smile. “I never sacrifice anything for nothing. The Autumn faeries would have been the most resistant to change. They don’t feel oppressed and they work for their high positions. They feel justifiably elevated. But with most of them gone, Avalon will need me for my skills, and the Spring and Summer fae will be more likely to accept the change that’s coming.”

“You’ve destroyed the Academy, the labs, the gardens full of specimens; your Mixer skills aren’t worth much without those.”

“You really do think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

Laurel forced herself to say nothing.

“One of my specialties is delayed effects. I was able to hide my research for years by Mixing potions that had no apparent effect – so later, when they kicked in, the effects would be blamed on the failure of some other Mixing. The mist I set off in the tower is short-term – it’s neutralising as we speak. The firewalls will preserve most of the structure – not to mention the components. The smoke damage will be extensive, I admit, but the labs will be completely useable in a quarter of an hour. I will have everything I need to rebuild Avalon.”

“And the thousands you killed?” Laurel demanded.

“Even with the fae deaths, on balance I’ve done Avalon a huge favour. Thanks to my serum and my recruiting efforts, as of today trolls are effectively extinct on the entire Pacific Rim.”

“It was your vaccine,” Laurel realised, remembering the way the trolls had fallen so suddenly, dead where they stood. “It killed them.”

“Like I said,” Klea purred with a smile. “Delayed effects.”

“Why kill them so soon? Why not keep them around to help you with your takeover?”

“Trust trolls?” Klea laughed. “Those filthy animals just wanted to sack Avalon. They thought they were using me to get here, and they intended for me to die as surely as I intended the same fate for them. The second the trolls passed through the gate I couldn’t have convinced them to protect me from a faerie child, much less a Bender. The timing was delicate and almost ruined by your stupid high-school dance, but in the end they had to die – that was always the plan.”

“That’s horrible,” Laurel said.

Klea shrugged. “Well, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.”

“And were the sentries some of your eggs?” Tamani demanded. “Do you have any idea how many faeries died today?”

“Thousands,” Klea said, her voice deadly serious. “And their martyrdom is the foundation on which I will build a new order.” She hesitated. “I admit things could have gone better. I never expected Excalibur – especially not with Marion in charge – so I had to change things up and send in some sleeping mist at the gate.”

Was that regret in her voice? Over a change of plans? The woman really was stark-raving mad.

“But what’s done is done. And I’m out of time to reminisce. The smoke from the Academy fire will keep the Sparklers’ and Ticers’ attention away from our little party here, but it is also likely to woo the Benders out before I’m ready. Laurel, look here,” Klea said, opening her hand to reveal the two vials again – one containing a dark green solution, one a deep purple. “One of these is just a vial of the serum I injected into the trolls. The other is viridefaeco. Do as I ask, and I will give you the potion. Refuse and” – she clenched her fists, not quite hard enough to break the vials – “the serums will mix, their components will neutralise each other, and the cure will be useless.”

Laurel hesitated. But at this point it didn’t hurt to at least find out what Klea’s terms were. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter, Laurel. Don’t help her!” Tamani called, his voice full of desperation.

“You think yours is the only life at stake here, Ticer?” Klea snapped at Tamani. “Even as we sit talking, looking so innocent and pathetic in the grass, this toxin is spreading right out of your skin – to the grass you’re sitting on, to the roots Yuki has so kindly wrapped around me. To the trees in the forest, to Jamison lying over there at death’s door anyway. It won’t stop. In time, it will remake Avalon into a barren rock. And without me, you will never be able to make the antidote in time.”

Klea turned back to Laurel. “Go to Marion and Yasmine,” she said evenly.

“How do you know about Yasmine?” Laurel asked. “She sprouted after you were exiled.”

“How many times have you spoken of her when you thought you were all alone?”

Laurel’s jaw snapped shut.