This time when I awoke, I didn't instantly move. I could tell by the dip of the bed that I was in the bed in the cottage. The wood ceiling greeted me. Beams of light shone through the closed curtains and lit the dust in the air. I blinked a bit before lifting my hand up to scratch my neck. My palms were bandaged. Frowning, I brushed my throat and felt a similar fabric. Swallowing was still rough. Apparently, call it a hunch, but being choked to near-death was not good for the throat.

   A shape filled the open door. I looked at Alexie, almost accusingly. He ignored the look and stepped inside, snagging the chair to place it next to the bed and sit down. "How is the pain?"

   "Which one?" I rasped, my voice still out of it.

   His look was deadpan. I couldn't help the faint snicker and exhaled, leaning my head back. "A little better. Especially since I don't feel any splinters in my hands."

   He nodded. "Good." There was a bit of a silence before he asked, "Tell me what happened. Every detail."

   "Uh, well, I woke up because the window was open. No one was outside. I turned back around and that was when Dani attacked me." I blew out my cheeks. "She had her hands around my neck. She could have killed me. I don't know why she didn't."

   "Why did she stop?"

   "I don't know. She just started to cough. She looked winded."

   Alexie cursed under his breath. I looked at him oddly. He grimaced. "And you scratched her face in the attempt to escape, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

   My memory was foggy, but I realized he was right. "Yeah. I did. How did you know?"

   "Because there are four distinct lines, obviously nails, that are raked down your face." He lifted a hand and it hovered over my forehead. My eyes widened and I felt around on my face. Sure enough, there were four raised lines down my face. "How the absolute hell--?"

   "It's called a life-link." Alexie rubbed his chin. "It's created between a dark magick and their source. It keeps the user from killing the source. It takes time to build the life-link, but once it's there, it's impossible to remove."

   I stared at him. "How does that apply here, exactly?"

   "Whatever she does to you will happen to herself, and vise versa. She strangled you and began to choke. You cut her and the same cuts appeared on your face. She cannot kill you without killing herself and you can't kill her without killing yourself."

   "I'm not sure if I'm horrified or relieved."

   "While it keeps you safer, it also means that the link between the two of you is fully complete." He shook his head. "She was never put into the Ghost Realm in the first place. A life-link takes months for a link to finish solidifying. Her magic would have been blocked, had she been in the Ghost Realm."

   I jumped on the opportunity. "What is that thing, by the way? The ghost world?"

   "Ghost Realm. It's hard to explain."

   "Just try, dammit." I was getting tired of being left out of important information.

   He chose his words carefully. "Picture this world without human interference. No cities, no pollution, no colonization. But it is still Earth -- every mountain, every sea, the same. Wild, untouched, and dangerous. Peaceful, quiet, and protected. That is the Ghost Realm."

   "I don't understand."

   He exhaled. "When you access your magic, you are reaching for the barrier. Correct?" I nodded. "Past the barrier is a wall. And past the wall is the Ghost Realm. It's practically another world that coexists beside ours. It is incredibly dangerous. Beasts of a different world reside there. The Council exiles the worst of criminals to that place to die. Once inside, only someone who can access the magic barrier can leave. This makes mages the only race able to traverse it. Therefore it became a prison."

   "Kind of like Australia in the old days, right?" He looked at me, confused, and I waved it off. "Never mind."

   "While you were unconscious, Dani Darhk placed a spell on you that would have, given the time, dragged you into the Ghost Realm. That is why I had to put you to sleep. She was attempting to get rid of you another way."

   "Seriously?" I blanched. "How did I not know?"

   "Because she's good." Alexie steepled his fingers on his knees. "She's one of the best this century has ever seen. And she has clearly not forgotten about you."

   "Shit," I hissed. "What am I supposed to do, Alexie? She could have killed me back there -- nothing I did even fazed her! How the hell am I supposed to defend myself before she kills me?"

   His eyes narrowed slightly. "Not while I live."

   "And what is that supposed to mean?"

   "I replaced her spell with one of my own. I have blocked off the link that allows her to draw magic through you. Essentially, I have cut off her ability to use you as a source. And so long as I live, it will keep her from draining your ability."

   I opened my mouth, closed it, and faltered. "O-Oh." I blinked. "Does that mean she's no longer a threat?"

   He shook his head. "It means I have bought you some time. You must complete your training before she finds us again." He rose to his feet. "Get some sleep. I have paused your training for three days in order for you to recover. Then we must get moving. There is no telling how much time we have before Dani returns."