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"There may be none," I warned.

"There has to be."

"That is not how realms work."

She looked at me. "Then make one."

I stared at her. "Poppy."

"You're an infernal hunter. Mrs. Wilton is a fairy godmother. I'm..." She glanced down at herself. "Human."

"Painfully so."

She ignored that. "Three kinds of magic."

"I possess no authority to create a realm."

"But you can open a path."

"To where?"

The creature answered. "Between."

I understood. A pocket realm. Not a true world. A place formed in the space between existing ones. Stable only if anchored. Fairy magic could give it shape. Infernal magic could give it strength. Human will… could give it purpose.

"It may kill us," I said.

Poppy nodded. "Okay."

"That response should concern you more."

"It does."

"You do not appear concerned."

"I'm very good under pressure."

"You drank Frankenpunch."

"And yet here we are."

I looked at the creature. Then at Poppy. Eight thousand years of instinct told me to kill the threat. Five days with one impossible woman told me there might be another way. I hated when she was right.

"Place your hand over mine." She did. Warm fingers covered my knuckles where they gripped the sword. I drove the blade into the edge of the breach. Infernal fire exploded through the clearing. The creature screamed.

Poppy flinched but did not release me. "Now what?"

"Think of somewhere safe."

"I don't know what that looks like."

"Neither do I."

Her eyes met mine. "Yes, you do."

The cottage flashed through my thoughts. Mrs. Wilton's fire. Reggie asleep on the windowsill. Poppy laughing in the kitchen. Her arms around me. Home. The word felt unfamiliar. Then it did not. Poppy closed her eyes. The creature reached toward us.

Fairy magic rose from the Moonbells, silver and blue, streaming into the blade. Mrs. Wilton. Even weakened, she was helping. Poppy's hand tightened over mine. Golden light flowed from her palm. Human. Fragile. Brilliant. The three magics collided. The world tore open. Not downward. Outward. A doorway formed behind the creature. Beyond it waited a dark field beneath a violet sky. Empty. Silent. Whole.