Then Fairy stepped back, away from the end of the tunnel. “I’m not going to die,” she said to the afterlife. “Not yet.”

The tunnel sighed, almost as though disappointed. But Fairy’s will was strong, and after another whine, the green and the tunnel imploded, as if sucked into a single point. A shock of bright white blinded her vision.

Fairy jolted where she lay on the ground in the orchard, but she couldn’t move. Her eyes flew open, and she saw not green dust but everything else as she’d known it. The blue of the sky above. The gnarled brown of the tree branches.

And the very real, muscled arms that held her tightly.

“You’re back.” Wolf exhaled but didn’t loosen his grip.

“I’m back.”

“I thought I lost you.”

Fairy leaned back against him and smiled weakly. “I’m not that easy to kill.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Hana returned to the Citadel, feeling as if a few chinks were missing from her armor. Fairy’s mention of Sora had caught her off guard. She’d thought she was over her sister wanting to recruit her. Hells, they had literally been at each other’s throats during the last battle. Why did hearing about Sora get to her now?

Maybe because Hana had never before questioned her own loyalty to Emperor Gin. His beliefs and his promises had been the moral guideposts for most of her life. But now . . .

“We should report our failure to His Majesty,” Firebrand said as they passed through the fortress gates. Hana had told them that Wolf showed up and used his strange magic to help him and Fairy escape.

“Go away,” Hana grumbled at Firebrand.

“But the mission—”

“I’ll take care of it later,” she said with more force this time.

“Virtuoso,” Menagerie chimed in, “with all due respect, we’re supposed to report mission outcomes immediately.”

“Fine! Tell him whatever you want!” Hana’s magic hurled Firebrand and Menagerie across the courtyard, slamming them into the walls of the nearest building.

The ryuu gaped at her, but they didn’t try to approach her again.

Hana glared once more, then marched away.

What to do? How to feel?

Fairy had promised to share how to undo the damning of souls if they discovered it. But that was dependent on them not only finding it but also surviving long enough to get the information to Hana. And what if Hana did join them? Emperor Gin would crush them. Why did her sister and her friends find it so appealing to die for the losing side of history?

If Hana stayed with the ryuu, however, there was a chance she would live long enough to see the Evermore. Then the damnation would be moot.

Of course, there was the possibility that in the many forthcoming years of war with the mainland, Hana would be killed. And in death, she’d be trapped in the hells forever.