Val gritted her teeth and tried harder. Her magic surged. The iron responded, and a ward blossomed around the pendant.

Val gasped and opened her eyes. The amulet looked no different, but in her magical senses, it blazed with power.

The dog barked.

“You can sense that, can’t you?” Val grinned. “C’mon. Time to test it!”

She bounded across the smithy to a straw dummy she’d set up near the forge. Val hung the amulet around its neck, crossed to the nearest tool rack, and selected a flamethrower and a welding helmet.

“Close your eyes, dude,” she told the dog.

He stared at her in merry incomprehension.

“Well, I hope you’re not scared of fire,” Val told him.

She snapped the welding helmet over her eyes and lit the flamethrower. The roar echoed through the smithy. The dog sat still, watching in apparent interest.

Val strode to the dummy and, without hesitation, set it on fire.

Flames caught the straw and sprang toward the ceiling in a rush of light and heat, but only for an instant. A blue flash rippled through the amulet as temperature activated the ward. With a dull sound like iron striking a wooden shield, an invisible bubble formed around the dummy, trapping the flames within. They roiled and churned in a four-foot sphere around the burning straw.

“Yeah!” Val whooped.

She set the flamethrower aside, pulled off her helmet, and approached the dummy cautiously. She felt no heat when she extended a bare hand toward the bubble.

“Lilli can keep her babysitters.” Val grinned. “Now, to make sure the ward works both ways.”

The dog’s eyes followed her across the smithy as she retrieved a seven-foot battleax from the weapons rack. Its weight made her grunt, but she swung it above her head, then charged the burning dummy with a warrior’s roar and struck.

The battleax hit the ward with a hollow clang and bounced so hard that Val almost lost control. Her hands tightened on the shaft and she stumbled back, clinging to it with all her strength.

“Whoa!” Val lowered the battleax and inspected the edge, which had curled and notched on impact. “Okay. I think it works.”

The dog wagged his tail and barked.

“Thanks, dude.” Val watched as the fire burned out, leaving the unharmed amulet hanging on a frame of charred wood. “I think she’ll like it, too.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Val plodded up the stairs, boots clumping as she cradled the dog. He lay unprotesting with his head on her shoulder and limbs dangling.

“Getting used to the royal treatment, are you?” Val lowered him to the floor. “Your ass isn’t getting any heavier, dude. Maybe eating more than a few bites each day would help.”

The dog wagged his tail and limped to his fluffy bed in the kitchen but ignored the smorgasbord of bowls and saucers arranged around it. Wet food, dry food, bits of chicken, boiled rice—Val had tried everything.

“C’mon, dude. A few days ago, you liked wet food. Yesterday, you liked chicken.” Val crouched beside the dog and offered him a saucer of expensive kibble. “Why don’t you like anything today?”

The dog licked up a few bits of kibble and crunched them, then laid his head on his paws and sighed.

“I don’t even know anymore. Do you want a raw steak or something?” Val asked.

The dog closed his eyes.

Val sat on the floor beside him and stroked his back. Matted fur scraped on her palm. She retrieved a brush from the nearest kitchen cabinet and drew it gently through the long red tangles on his neck. The dog sighed heavily.

“Yeah, it’s a tough life,” Val muttered. “Getting brushed and pampered and offered every kind of food under the sun. I can see how your life is very stressful.”

Val’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She’d sent the queen a picture of Lillirelda’s finished amulet, and she grinned as she fished out her phone with one hand, still gently brushing the dog with the other. The queen had a way of conveying her excitement with far more emojis than seemed dignified.

Her text to the queen still showed as unread. The new message came from Tetra.

Anger settled over Val’s shoulders like a weighted cloak. She scrolled through Tetra’s texts over the past few days as rage bubbled in the pit of her stomach.

This isn’t fair! You can’t still be mad at me! I didn’t do anything wrong!

Oh, so now I am a prisoner?

Hello???

Thanks for driving me to my shift today IN TOTAL SILENCE!

What was I supposed to do? They were going to run me over!

What is your problem?

Val, you can’t ignore me forever.

It’s been three days. Hello??

????

????????!!!!!!!!

The final message was a mix of emojis, as random as if Tetra had punched the keyboard in fury. Val ignored it, too. She chucked her phone on the kitchen table, sick of it.

“Faeries suck,” she informed the dog.

He tilted his neck so she could brush an itchy spot.

“I can’t believe I ever thought she could be rehabilitated and become a productive member of society,” Val growled, brushing harder. “She’s a shithead. She could have gotten Mateo or one of those guys killed, and then what? Then Val Stonehold would be guilty of murder, that’s what.”

The dog yawned and laid his head on his paws again.

“I don’t know either, dude. We can’t go on like this,” Val muttered. “She’s still working at the Iron Fist because, let’s be real, we’re desperate for the help. What if she blows up in there? What if she hurts somebody or burns the place down? I thought I’d given her the right orders, buddy, but I was wrong.”

The rhythmic brushing soothed her. Although the dog seemed to be asleep, Val kept talking.

“I thought I was doing a good thing for Tetra and Sinatria,” she murmured. “Maybe even for the Eternity Throne. Now, though, I don’t know. Am I hurting more than helping?”