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Something cracked behind me, and Rae gasped. I turned and saw her in the tree, her leg dangling. She’d lost her footing briefly.

Cyn rushed forward, taking advantage of my distraction, and tackled me. The moss gave way beneath us, and we slid to a halt with his hands gripping my wrists, pressing me into the damp ground.

“Cyn, please! Don’t let go,” I said between sobs, struggling to keep him from biting me as we wrestled. “Don’t let it take you.”

I didn’t know if he understood a single thing I said, given how difficult it was to speak while crying and struggling against him, but I had to try. Cyn was everything to me, and I refused to let this cursed place have him.

When he seized again, he stopped fighting but still kept my wrists pinned. His ragged breaths fanned across my face as he licked his lips. A knot of unease tightened in my stomach. I worried he really would bite me, but not in the way I’d often fantasized about.

Memories of everything we’d lived through together invaded my mind, tearing at my insides, reminding me of all I had to lose.

Waking with Cyn holding me like he didn’t want to let me go even in his sleep, eating his cupcakes while he complained about training, watching his face light up when he perfected a recipe he’d worked hard on for days… so much I never wanted to lose but would never have again. I’d never even hear his voice again.

I choked back my tears and met his gaze.

If the magic took him, I couldn’t go with him.

The finality of it struck me then: I would never see him again.

“Cyn,” I whispered, fighting the urge to burst into tears again.

He growled down at me.

I didn’t even know if he recognized me anymore.

“Don’t leave.” I took a shuddering breath. “Please don’t go where I can’t follow you.”

He simply stared, his unblinking gaze intense, as if trying to read whatever was written on my face. Did he know me? If only I could reach him through the magic coursing through him.

“Cyn,” I whispered again.

His forehead met my shoulder, and he shuddered.

I kept my voice low and soothing, the way he’d done for me when I experienced anxiety attacks in the past. “Stay with me.”

His body twitched against mine.

“No,” I begged. “Look at me.”

He lifted his head as tears I couldn’t suppress ran over my temples into my hair. He stared at them as if they fascinated him. Given the number of times he’d witnessed me crying, I didn’t understand his sudden interest, but I wouldn’t question the magic of this place and how it affected the mind.

“I need you to fight it,” I said, testing his grip on my wrists.

He sat back and released me, allowing me to sit up.

“Tell me how to help you.”

“Help… me?” His head angled, and the confusion twisting his features made my heart ache. Did he not know what was happening to him?

I reached out with a shaking hand and held the side of his face. “What can I do to keep you?”

He groaned, his face pinching with pain. He hunched his shoulders, his body contracting as if trying to disappear. He panted, and I could see the struggle to hold on to his sanity.

“Cyn,” I repeated softly. His body seemed to relax every time I said his name, so I wouldn’t stop. Not while I had a chance to save him.

“You can’t,” he choked out, voice raw, finally answering my question. “Can’t… stop… it.” His eyes met mine. “I’m sorry.” With what little lucidity he possessed, he started to stand.

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. I refused to lose him this way. This place couldn’t have him.