Noble’s eyes widened.

As my grandpa grasped the wolf’s spirit by the neck, the beast snapped his jaws. “Nai,” Grandpa Geoff said. “Help me wrangle him.”

Oh mage!

I grasped the front paws of his wolf and startled at the strange sensation. The animal’s limbs felt cold yet solid in my hands. “It’s okay,” I crooned. “Come with me so Honor can come back to us.”

“That looks weird,” Justice said. “It’s like you’re grabbing air.”

Noble winced. “I promise it doesn’t feel like air.” Gasping, he added, “It’s burning … a little … or a lot.”

We’d started to tug upward, but when gramps and I pulled his wolf up, Noble’s body came too. The high mage turned to Justice and Rage. “Hold him down. It will hurt them both less if you apply pressure.”

Rage and Justice knelt before their brother, Rage at Noble’s shoulders and Justice at his feet, gripping his ankles tightly.

“We’ve got you, bro,” Justice said, his voice rough. “We’ll get through this.”

“Nai…” Gramps looked at me. “As we extract his wolf, Noble may try to shift as a survival instinct—to keep the two of them together.”

Almost on cue, fur rippled down Noble’s arms, and the wolf form I held grew taut as it tried to suck back into Noble’s body.

Whoa.

“Already there.” Noble’s voice was barely human.

“Fight it!” Justice shouted.

Rage squeezed his brother’s shoulders and said, “Do this for Honor.”

Looking at me, Geoff raised his eyebrows. “Now, you made the deal with the Keeper of Souls, you must call for Honor.”

My jaw dropped. “Uh … how?”

“You’ve done this before,” my grandfather said. “Don’t let go of the wolf, but close your eyes and feel for Honor’s energy. Then go to him.”

Hysteria bubbled up inside of me. “You make that sound like the easiest thing in the world.”

“Nai, I’ll help you.” He closed his eyes so I closed mine too. “Now think of Honor.”

Honor. Sweet Honor.

I thought of him sitting at the edge of the lake in the Realm of the Dead, staring out at the vast expanse. I thought of him telling me that he was going to train me to shift. And how he told his brothers to stop teasing me at the beach.

Honor? Where are you? I felt for his energy, but what did his “energy” feel like? What did anyone’s energy feel like?

Honor was peaceful and calm. He was thoughtful and deep. If Rage’s energy was the sun, Honor’s was … like that lake. Cool, calm, soothing, and still.

Breathing in and out, I noticed light starting to flicker behind my closed eyelids, and then I felt a tug like someone had hooked a cord to my bellybutton and pulled. Then, I was floating, I could no longer feel the ground under me; everything felt light and free. My eyelids snapped open, and a shriek tore from my throat.

“I’m flying!” I screamed into the dark empty air.

“You’re free of your body, Nai,” Grandpa chuckled beside me, and I looked over at his soul. It was younger—like he was maybe forty, but the lighthearted expression quickly disappeared.

“Let’s go. We’re running out of time,” he said.

Right.

I let Gramps lead, and together we flew across a familiar landscape. The lake came into view with the Keeper’s castle on the hilltop. Glancing to my right, I gasped when I saw my body was semitransparent. I was a freaking ghost! Or a soul, or whatever. Just like Gramps.

Before I could process any further, the ground rushed up to meet us, and with Geoff’s help, I landed on my feet. I scanned the area and saw thousands of souls lazing about near the lake.

“Honor!” I shouted, running up to a young man sitting on a picnic blanket, but when he turned, I saw he wasn’t my friend but someone who looked like him. How much time did we have left? Was I too late? Should I go up to the castle and demand Honor—?

‘Stop. Don’t panic. Feel for him.’ Grandpa Geoff’s voice was in my head in the same way Rage and I spoke.

Letting out a shaky breath, I tried once more to feel for Honor’s energy. If I couldn’t see him with my eyes, was there another way to sense him? I knew the answer as soon as I thought the question. I needed to use my magic. I unwound the ball of magic “thread” in my chest, but instead of reaching for fire or water … or exhaling air, I sent magic feelers out into the realm of the dead like a net—a special Honor Midnight net.

Boom!

I felt him then, a large energetic presence to my right.

My eyes popped open and zeroed in on him. Honor was walking along the lakeshore with his father, and with them were my biological parents.

My mind blanked, and for a second I forgot why I was here.

“Mom!” I yelled.

‘No!’ Grandpa warned. ‘There’s no time. Honor’s soul is getting heavier.’ With a shake of his head, Grandpa added, ‘It may be too late. He may not go with you now.’

I spared my parents one more look, my heart breaking when my mom waved, her eyes filling with tears. I wanted to run to her, to hug her and ask her and my bio dad a hundred different things, but … I had to focus on Honor. ‘What do you mean Honor may not come with me?’

‘We’ve waited until the last possible moment. He feels rooted here now, and he may not want to leave.’

‘But—’

‘You need his permission,’ Gramps said. ‘Everyone has free will.’

No flippin’ way would Honor not want to come home and be with his brothers. Right? I booked it across the grassy lawn and then onto the sandy beach, racing until I crashed right into Honor.

His mouth popped open. “Nai?” His surprise turned to anguish, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Oh no.”

“Honor,” I sobbed, holding him tight.

He stroked my hair. “Damn, girl. Who killed you?”

I pulled back, shaking my head, and wrestled my emotions under control. He seemed better, more coherent. Happy … like he would want to stay here.

No. No. No.

“No. No one killed me. I … have the gift of spirit walking. I can come and go from here in this form, but I’m not dead.” Pretty sure that made no sense. “I came to bring you home.”

I forced a smile for him, my attention bouncing from Honor to Valor, Rage’s dad, who watched me keenly. My mother and uncle Mackay approached, arms around each other, but my mom still had that sad look on her face and they kept their distance as we worked this out.

“But I am home.” Honor pulled away and then stared out at the lake. “Why would you want to take all this happiness away from me?”

He walked away. From me, his father … everyone, and headed toward the water.

Panic thrummed through me, and I tore after him. “No, Honor. Please? Everyone is waiting for you to come back. I can bring you back. Noble is going to give you his wolf form, and we can all be together again.”

He turned to face me, and his brows drew together. “You want me to go back? But, Nai, here no one can hurt me. Ever again. No more pain. No more limp. No more suffering.”