Near the edge of the forest, the sunlight clung to the trees like skin, and Ellis lifted her chin in pretend courage. Even with a sack of spells clutched to her side, her hands trembled when she stepped below the waiting branches. Her mind strayed to ghost stories. There were dozens of chilling tales to plague her thoughts as she delved under the sun-bright leaves. Lost girls, cursed children, monsters made of nightmares. But the rumors of moonlight fairies were the ones that kept her hands close to the bag of spells. What good a sunlight spell would do against a moon fairy, Ellis didn’t know. She only hoped it wouldn’t be useless.

She concentrated on the sky. Perfectly ordinary stars winked at her as if all were well in the world. When the wind shook the leaves of an aspen tree and sunlight dripped in wet clumps on her shoulders, Ellis bit back a scream. Blindly, she pulled a spell and threw it at the tree. Strands of magic erupted into a glittering net around the trunk.

But no fairy followed, and she hurried away.

Never had she traveled so deep in the forest. It was only the memory of Zeph’s fevered skin that encouraged her feet to move forward. Ordinary magic wasn’t going to be enough to drive out the curse blistering in his bones.

As the trees grew thicker, the skin of sunlight grew thin. Much of it had already been scattered by wind or cleaned away by forest creatures, or else never reached the ground at all. Ellis pushed aside the underbrush, looking for the deep pockets of untouched magic.

She found one under a trio of ferns. A puddle of sunlight, thick as honey, rippled as she pushed the leaves aside. Judging from the golden hue, it must had been hidden from moonlight and other disturbances for nearly six months.

From her bag, Ellis drew out a glass phial. Some of the magic stuck to her fingers as she coaxed it in. The crisp edges of sunlight curled into smoke at her touch, but she managed to scoop most of the magic into the phial without losing too much. She was carful to keep moonlight from corrupting the magic as she transferred it to the bag.

A branch cracked behind her back, and Ellis whirled. A moon fairy stared back. “Lost, little girl?” the fairy asked, its voice high and cold as winter. Its eyes shone pale moonlight even in the glow of the trees.

In answer, Ellis took a spell in each hand and threw with all her might. She didn’t stay to see the results, but sprinted with all her heart back the way she had come.

The fairy gave a shout and then a strangled scream, and Ellis suspected she had thrown the vine-creating spell. Good. It would give her a chance to get away. Her path was easy to follow, a trail of plain green grass where her feet had knocked aside the sunlight.

By the time she reached the edge of the forest, it was so late that some of the sun magic was already souring in the moonlight. It glinted eerily silver on the branches, and Ellis was only too glad to leave it behind.

The familiar streets of Kinseddy were comfortingly swept clean of all magic. Ellis saw only the faintest beads of sun on rooftops. Nothing a fairy would bother to gather. She shook excess magic from her hair as she neared the cottage, grinding the sun under her heels to ensure it was extinguished.

It wasn’t until she was safely through the door that she dared pull out the hard-won magic. It warmed her fingers when she poured it into her palm.

Zeph stirred as Ellis sat on the edge of his bed. “El?” His voice was hoarse. She furiously worked the magic into a new spell.

“Take it,” she ordered, handing him the enchantment. “It will soothe the curse.”

His skin burned her through the blankets. He narrowed his eyes. “You went into the forest.”

She didn’t answer. “Just take it. Please.” Her heart thundered more loudly than it had even when the fairy had appeared. What if it didn’t work?

But he swallowed the spell, and Ellis could see the magic sliding down his throat, pulling dark wisps of curse in its wake. She sighed. It would work.

For the first time, the golden night had brought not heartache but healing.