tongue. Each one of them had turned sideways and placed their left hand on the neck of the person in front of them. With their right, they each supported the crown.
Talen rushed to River. The left side of her face was purpled with bruises.
Sugar had already set her tooth to work on the collar about Da’s neck. He could see his father was in pain.
When he approached River, she turned her head to expose her long neck. This time when he brought the tooth close, it did not escape his grasp.
However, it had only begun to work on the collar when River cried out. “Remove it!” she said.
Talen yanked the tooth back. “What is it?”
She gasped. “It was in me.”
To Talen’s left, Da fell to his knees, Sugar’s tooth still struggling with the collar about his neck.
“What’s happening?” asked Talen.
“Grab it,” Da said to Sugar, gritting the words out.
Sugar knelt and grasped for the tooth.
Da groaned in pain.
Sugar yanked the tooth back.
Da heaved great breaths. When he caught his breath, he turned his head to look at River. “You and I have worn the collars longer. The binding must be tighter. Be prepared: it’s going to take a part of you.”
“I felt that,” said River.
Da turned to Sugar. “Finish it.”
He winced when she pricked the collar again.
Talen looked at his sister.
She held her hand up. “Give me a second,” she said.
They didn’t have a second. Talen was sure the monster was going to walk into the chamber at any moment.
The Creek Widow cried out in delight. “It’s quickened,” she said and held the crown aloft.
Da gritted his teeth. His face was red with strain. “Now,” he commanded, and Sugar withdrew the tooth.
Still kneeling, Da ripped the collar from his neck. His face was sweating with strain. Blood shone in a thin line around his neck.
“Quickly,” he said and motioned to the Creek Widow.
She, Uncle Argoth, and Ke encircled him.
“But it’s gold,” Talen said. Not the black of powerful magic. “Are you sure it’s going to work?”
“I told you,” the Creek Widow said. “It operates on different principles, and it’s very much alive. Long ago, perhaps in a different age, three years of life were poured into it. The power of three years of life—you can feel it pulsating. It requires three now to waken it.”
Da stood and struggled with his chains, but could not remove them from the wall as Ke had done.
“Put it on me,” said Da.
The Creek Widow strapped the crown to Da’s head.
“It looks so flimsy,” said Talen. “What if it comes off?”
“Once the crown and your father are joined,” said the Creek Widow, “no power can separate them.”
Ke, the Creek Widow, and Uncle Argoth formed their odd circle again, turning sideways to the center of the circle, placing their left hands on the neck of the person in front of them, stretching their right arms out to the center of the circle to rest on Da’s head and touch the medallion. This time, Da spoke the strange words, followed in unison by the other three.
Sugar, her tooth in hand, stood in the center of the chamber like a guard dog.
“We need to get this off me,” River said. “The three of them will be useless once the bond fully forms.”
Talen returned his attention to his sister. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. Her eyes shone with determination.
He held her chin still with one hand and pricked the collar again. It immediately twisted and writhed.
River’s face screwed up in pain. She breathed in measured pants.
Talen pulled the tooth back so that the sharp head was barely in the collar.
But tears still formed in the corners of River’s eyes.
“Do you want me to take it out?” he asked.
She panted, shook her head. But moments later she sagged to one side, and Talen had to quickly remove the tooth or risk stabbing her.
In spots the coloring of the collar had turned ash gray. Yet he could see other parts were still very much alive, undulating as if it were taking long, slow breaths.
Talen saw specks of light. He blinked and looked down at the hag’s tooth. Had it affected his vision? He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and looked again.
A handful of shining flecks were floating in the chamber. They looked like dust motes, except they shone with their own light. What’s more, they seemed to be floating lazily toward Da.
“My eyes,” he said.
“Not your eyes,” said River. “The crown.”
There were more sparks now. Talen couldn’t tell where they