Marina made it back to the Grove before midnight.

She crossed the boundary and felt the old magic settle around her like something that had been holding its breath while she was gone and was now releasing it, and she stood inside the stones for a moment and let herself be still.

Three days.

That was what she had told Obsidian.

That was also exactly the time she had before the ritual needed to happen, and the coincidence was not coincidence. She had given him the number that was true for her own purposes, the number that gave her the window she needed, and had let him believe it was...