I wanted to throw up. I had caused this.

  "Where is my grandmother?" I asked.

  "She's run away," Alric said. "I was going to allow the two of you to serve me and invite you into my ranks, but that's changed now. You've destroyed my life. I will tear out your throat. Or better yet, I will make you tear out your gentleman friend's throat first. I'll give you a few moments to regret what you've done, to feel the evil taking over your body before I destroy you."

  Tate backed away. This plan was why they wanted him. He was here to turn me bad.

  The cold magic wrapped around me and the horrible itch spread across my body. Alric was forcing me to transform. A migraine exploded across my face. The magician trembled as he held his transformation back and the magic wavered again. He was losing concentration. A bit of hair sprouted on his face, then retracted again.

  I could move. I grabbed Tate's hand and dodged out of the room, pushing past Macon. Macon picked up his bow and fired a shot. The arrow hit something with a thunk.

  The pain faded, but the itch stayed as bad as ever. Tate and I stopped in the kitchen to wait for Alric.

  A growl sounded from the bedroom, and I knew Alric had lost control again. He would destroy us all. It was my fault.

  Macon bolted down the hallway, bow in hand. His face had lost all color. He'd closed the bedroom door, but claws scraped against it. Growling cut over everything. Alric couldn't use magic in that form, but he didn't need to.

  "We need to go," Macon said.

  "But my grandmother!" It would do no good to go without her. She must still be alive and not all the way dark. The whole forest--and I--would have gone dark if she had died.

  "We can't look for her now," Macon said. "Alric said she ran off."

  The clawing got worse on the door. Alric had lost his ability to use doorknobs. He'd break out soon. Even if we got out of here, he'd hunt us down.

  He might even kill my grandmother.

  And then he would win.

  I gulped. "We need to fight Alric." My headache was creeping back. Alric's magic had brought me closer to the change. He couldn't turn me evil while in wolf form, could he?

  Tate got in front of me and grabbed my arms. "You're not thinking about it. Please say no." Behind him, Alric rammed into the bedroom door.

  It cracked.

  "It's the only chance we have." I handed Tate the knife. "You need to cut Alric. It should remove his curse. And then Macon needs to kill him."

  Macon reached for his ax. He said nothing. Tate hesitated.

  My migraine intensified. I might not survive this.

  And then the world blurred together and every sound exploded in my ears.

  It was upon me. The change.

  Joints popped. Pain rippled. Tate shouted something. I fell to my knees and dropped the knife. A blob that might have been Tate picked it up.

  The world snapped back into place, and the house was taller around me. The cracking sound exploded from the door as I took a step forward, getting used to my legs. I was smaller than Alric. Less fierce. More crazed. He'd been in this semi-dark area for longer than me.

  I looked up at Tate and Macon. They held their weapons ready, and Macon swallowed. I nodded to tell them that I had this, but I wasn't sure.

  The door splintered down the hall, and a dark brown wolf snout came out. A scent like burning wood came out with it. Alric's rage. It mixed with Tate's fear and made a smell that I would never forget.

  The snout retracted, and another thump sounded, and then the door fell right off its hinges. Alric, the wolf, jumped through and a bit of blood seeped out on his snout. He faced us. His eyes had turned even redder. Soon he would forget he also had a human form and that he was the magician who wanted all of Fable. But he would be no less dangerous.

  And he walked towards us, step by step.

  Macon backed up a bit. Alric was expecting me to make the first move. It was there in his eyes. They were bloodthirsty. He wouldn't kill me fast. I would be like the boar, suffering while he tortured it.

  And then Alric lost all control and lunged.

  I moved out of the way and let him slide across the linoleum and into the fridge. He rammed into it so hard that the door popped open and a package of kale fell to the floor. Alric stood there and shook his head while Tate held the knife out, drawing closer. But Alric turned his head and faced him. Growled.

  I took the chance. I leaped at Alric and snapped at the back of his neck. My teeth found flesh and Tate jumped back as Alric thrashed, trying to throw me off. Macon shouted at me to move, but I couldn't. Already the darkness of this area crept into me. It made me want to snap and keep my grip. Alric had done something terrible to my grandmother. He needed to pay.

  Alric growled and raked his claws on the kitchen floor. He thrashed so hard that I couldn't keep my grip. He was bigger than me, almost twice my size. I flew back, sliding against the floor, and Tate moved in with the knife. He stabbed, but Alric recovered just in time and closed his jaws around his forearm.

  Tate swore and dropped the knife. Blood leaked out. The smell filled the room. He was going to kill my boyfriend. Going to tear his arm right off. I jumped, landing on Alric's back again, and he let go of Tate's arm. Macon shoved Tate out of the way, and blood dripped. Tate seethed. I snapped at Alric again, but he thrashed so hard that I couldn't land another bite. I fell off and landed on my side. Alric swiped at me with a massive paw and pain streaked across my nose.

  And then he focused all his attention on me.

  The world became all growling and canines and fur and blood. Tate's cries grew far away. Alric swiped at me again, and the world exploded, then went black.

  Joints popped. More pain spread through my body. My shape was changing again, back to human form. Sounds amplified and Tate's cries of pain mixed in with cursing and Macon telling him to keep the pressure on the wound. Alric growled. I'd been knocked out for a second, knocked out as I had with the deer.

  No, I thought.

  I needed my wolf form right now.

  Alric leaped on me. Claws dug into my shoulders. I was dead. I blinked and saw nothing but red eyes over me. It was death. It was evil and agonizing and bloody.

  Glass shattered.

  And then another form rammed into Alric from the side.

  A lighter colored wolf, smaller than him but just as fierce.

  Alric yelped and toppled away from me. The second wolf snapped at him while Macon and Tate dodged out of the way. I must be dreaming. Maybe I was dead already, and this was just my brain shutting down.

  But I climbed back into full consciousness, aware of the throbbing across my nose. I was alive. The pain meant life.

  And the two wolves wrestled: one dark brown and the other grayish-blond. The gray-blond wolf was smaller, with eyes halfway between red and black.

  It was Grandma.

  It had to be.

  I sat upright when Alric bucked her off in his craze. She landed against a chair and yelped. He turned his attention back to me and leaped again. Macon ran forward with his ax, but slipped on some blood on the floor and went down. Grandma struggled to her feet, and the weight of the wolf landed on me again. I held up an arm to defend myself, but he bit right into it, bringing his teeth down with so much force that I felt my bones crack.

  There was no pain. Only shock. I wouldn't live long enough for the pain to register. I flailed around as Tate screamed my name and appeared above me, beating at the wolf with his fists. He was just as injured as I.

  My hand met bone and iron.

  The knife.

  I wrapped my hand around it and jabbed it right into Alric's side as hard as I could.

  He yelped and fell away.

  I got up, cradling my arm. It was hanging at a strange angle. Alric turned in a circle on the floor, trying to dislodge the knife from his side with his teeth, but it was no use. Dust rose from him. Then smoke curled up from his wound. The blade fell away as his skin peeled back, revealing black and red underneath--the colors of his robe.

  His wolf skin crumbled and fell away, turning to dust.

  And Alric was left lying there, curled up into a ball like a baby. He was out. Unconscious. The knife with the bone handle was lying next to him without so much as a trace of blood.

  I had removed his curse.

  I stood there, arm hanging at a strange angle just under my elbow, with blood seeping out and dripping onto the floor. Shock overtook me. Macon rushed over and opened kitchen drawers until he found one with Grandma's towels. He took one out and wrapped it around my arm, then tossed one to Tate. Behind us, Grandma growled. She advanced on the unconscious Alric like she was about to tear out his throat, then stopped.

  She looked up at me.

  "Don't kill him," I begged her. "He's human now. You'll turn dark."

  Grandma turned away and took another step towards him. I lunged forward and grabbed her by her shoulder blades. It was no easy feat. My busted arm screamed, and I dropped the towel. "No!" I shouted. "I'm sorry I went to Disney World. I am. Let's get you out of here before the Watchers get back and then Macon's going to shoot Alric. We're almost rid of him."

  "Actually," Macon said, advancing. "I don't know if arrows will kill this man. He's too powerful. King Henrik was immortal due to all the gold and magic that he had and now that Alric has all of that--"

  "Just shoot him!" Tate shouted. "Then we need to go!"

  Macon trembled.

  Pulled an arrow back and let it fly.

  It plunged into Alric's chest with a sickening sound. Alric gagged and then thrashed on the floor, still unconscious but in pain. His cold magic flared as he rolled over and grasped at the arrow in his chest. Did the man have a heart?

  I didn't want to stay to find out. I grabbed the knife and turned away. I couldn't watch this.

  Grandma seemed satisfied. She turned away and led me back towards the door. Why wouldn't Grandma talk to me? She could. I knew she understood me.

  I grabbed the towel off the floor and wrung it back around my ruined arm. It would heal. I knew it would. But Tate had a matching injury, and he was human. His wouldn't stitch itself up anytime soon.

  Or would it?

  Macon looked ready to throw up. We piled out the front door and onto the perfect lawn. It was wavering now, and I caught flashes of tall grass and prickly weeds. Alric's magic was going haywire. He might be dying. Or not.

  But we had to leave. Grandma bounded across the lawn and towards the trees as if she didn't want us to see her this way. She was partly dark. We had to get her back to the light region and out of the border area.

  "Wait!" I shouted at her. "Come with us. Please. I'm sorry."

  She stopped and faced me.

  A bit more black crept into her eyes.

  "I know why you did all those things you did," I told her, running to catch up. I tried to ignore the horrendous pain in my arm, but it was hard. The sleeve of my hoodie was bloody. Torn. The itch was returning, too, but I didn't fear it anymore. There was nothing I could do about it, anyway. "And I still love you."

  She stood there. I waited for her voice to echo in my mind, but it never did.

  She was ashamed of this. She always had been, and that wasn't going to change.

  I turned to Macon. "I think we need that sleeping draught. She needs that." It would make her change back. I needed to speak to her.

  Macon nodded and ran back to the cottage. He must not have run into any problems with Alric, because he came back out seconds later, basket in hand. "Alric's still," Macon said. "He might be dead after all. We should have her drink this, and then we'll take her back into the light region."

  But Grandma was turning away again, stalking back into the forest, head lowered.

  She felt like a failure. Like she had screwed up and let me down.

  "Stop," I begged, trailing after her. I didn't know what would happen to her if she just wandered around. "It's okay. I know it's not, but it is. I'm just glad to have you back."

  And then she finally spoke.

  I only wanted you to have the life I always wanted. But instead, I made you live in prison.

  She continued walking. I had to stop her. "Grandma--I told you it's okay. I don't blame you for doing what you did. You knew Alric was here and that he'd come after us. You did the right thing. All this was just the story catching up with us."

  I wanted you to have the life of an ordinary girl. One I never had.

  "I never did."

  And she stopped and looked at me again. The red fought against the black in her eyes.

  Could I go back to that prison made of kale and glass? That world without anything wild?

  The thought was unbearable now.

  "And this is okay. I had a good adventure here."

  And besides, I could think of no way out of Fable right now. Tate was here with me.

  I think I need to sleep for a bit.

  Grandma walked towards me. Macon uncorked the wine bottle with the knife, and the bitter smell came out. I could see the grimace in Grandma's eyes.

  Macon leaned down. Let the red liquid pour. Grandma lapped it up, lay down, and closed her eyes. She breathed slowly, and I sat down next to her.

  "We had better go," Macon said. "As soon as she changes back, we'll need to carry her. Tate and I should make a blanket sling so she can sleep while we get her out of here."

  The itching grew a bit worse again. The change was trying to creep back, but the fear was gone. Alric might be dead. I had no reason to obey anymore, to stay on the narrow little trail. My story had finished the way it should.

  I was free.

  Macon took his ax out and ran back inside the cottage. Tate shuffled closer to me. Grandma grew more relaxed and breathed more slowly.

  "You know," he said. "I got bit."

  "I know you did. Your sleeve looks horrible."

  He held it up. Blood had crusted around the tatters of his leather sleeve. His steampunk jacket. "I'm sure the elf guy can fix that. But I got bit."

  Then I realized. "Oh. But we have that curse removing dagger. You should be okay." My arm wasn't pounding as much as before. The healing process had already started. I was glad for it.

  "Well, as long as we're here in Fable, I don't want to have to take breaks from us being together all the time. I'll think about it once we find a way back to the other world."

  "You're saying you don't want us to take off the curse."

  But before Tate could say anything else, Macon returned with the blanket. "Let's get her on," he said. "We're going to take turns carrying her out of here." He set the blanket on the ground just as Grandma's shape started to change. She had fallen asleep. In seconds she would be the Grandma I knew.

  "Is Alric dead?" Tate asked him, clutching his injured arm.

  Macon paused.

  "Well, is he dead?" I asked.

  Macon shook his head. "I don't know. I rechecked the kitchen, and he wasn't there."

  * * * * *

  We headed back towards the lighter areas, leaving the false cottage and the darker parts of the forest behind. It was slow going, carrying Grandma while she slept away on the makeshift hammock and we almost dropped her a few times, but she remained out. Perhaps this was why Mary had supplied the sleeping draught.

  For Grandma's sanity.

  The woods got brighter and more green the farther we went. I hoped Grandma would wake up soon. Walk on her own. Talk.

  But what would she say?

  Grandma and I had a lot of fixing to do either way.

  Tate kept his arm cradled as we walked. He managed a smile at me once in a while. Grandma got heavy, and we took turns carrying her. She slept more peacefully now, and the sun got brighter and brighter.

  Where would I go now?

  And then I spotted a lone wolf standing in the middle of the road ahead as if welcoming us out of the border region. Her eyes were black and soft. When she spotted Grandma on the blanket, they lit up with joy.

  It was Gray.

  And this was a reunion.

  Gray bounded forward, and Macon jumped back, reaching for his bow.

  "Stop," I told him. "This wolf isn't evil. Only the ones with red eyes are evil. You don't need to shoot at any more of them." Macon said nothing and went still.

  We set Grandma down, and Gray sniffed her, then gave her lots of sloppy wolf kisses. Grandma groaned and turned her head away.

  You've brought back my sister, Gray thought. Her words swelled with more gratitude than I could imagine. You're both safe.

  I struggled to hold the tears back. Alric might have gotten away. Macon shot him, but he vanished.

  Of course, he did. Until his story catches up with him, Alric will continue to live. Mary knows this.

  I let my mouth fall open, shocked that Mary and Gray knew each other.

  But that is not for you to worry about, Gray said. Your story is over. You are free. Russet and Ebony have been looking forward to seeing you again.

  Free.

  Grandma had no reason to hide things from me now. We were in Fable, and the truth was out. Until we found some magic mirror--and I had the feeling it would take a while--we were going to stay here. But what if Grandma wanted to go back to the kale-eating, safe life she'd put us through?

  I had a feeling I'd say no.

  Exhaustion overtook me, and I leaned against Tate, limbs shaking. If it hadn't been for Russet and Ebony, I wouldn't be here right now. We might all be dead. No. We would all have died, with our throats ripped out by Alric. And Alric would be a raging beast, unstoppable.

  And I found that I did want to see them again. And I would.

  And on the blanket, Grandma continued to snore.

  Come on, Gray said. Let's get her home. See if we can't give her the chance to come around.

  Tate and I picked up Grandma again and followed Gray off the trail.

  Thank you for reading Glass and Death! If you want to follow me and know when I release my next series, and also when I have something cool like a free book or sale, be sure to sign up HERE for the latest news. You also just might get some free stuff just by signing up...and you can also visit my website at www.hollyhookauthor.com to contact me or see my other titles!

 

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