“You’re wrong,” Aki said, even though she was currently heaped on the floor in a mess of mud and vomit. She might have been an acid-scarred prisoner in a grotto, guarded by an army of skeletons, but she was also a descendant of some of the greatest rulers in Kichona’s history. There was gold in her hair, fire in her veins, and, most important, a fierce love for her people in her heart. No matter the obstacles she faced, she would fight to her last breath to save them from her brother’s clutches.

“One day I’ll be free of here, and then you’ll see,” Aki said. “You’ll be sorry you ever crossed me.”

Chapter Forty-Five

The tiger’s paw of Kichona was composed of four small islands. The one with Dera Falls was a sharp sliver, just the tip of a claw. That was where Sora thought Prince Gin might be hiding Empress Aki.

Sora lay on her stomach on another of the islands that formed the claw, crawling up to the edge of the white cliffs that dropped straight down five hundred feet into the sea.

The last few hours had been terribly awkward. Daemon had come back to the mining shack as dusk settled in, already in the form of a wolf.

“It’s time,” he’d said, but his growl lacked any bite, and even the sparks coming off his fur seemed dimmer than usual. They were a muted, dull blue, rather than the bright electric light that had previously illuminated him.

Sora walked up to Daemon and touched his shoulder softly. “Where did you go? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine. Fairy told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?”

Daemon’s ears pricked, and the fur on his back stood alert. “What did she say?”

Sora tried to soothe the fur down. “Not much, just that she broke up with you.”

“Did she say why?”

“Only that she wasn’t the right girl for you. I tried to get more out of her, but she wouldn’t—”

His ears relaxed, and he exhaled. “It’s probably better that we don’t know.”

He seemed strangely relieved. Sora frowned. “But I don’t get it. You guys seemed happy. Don’t you want to know what went wrong? Maybe you can fix it.”

Daemon shook her hand off his back and bared his teeth. “I can’t. She doesn’t want to be with me, all right? Now, do you want to go to Dera Falls tonight or not?”

Sora stopped talking after that. She’d only wanted to help, but she’d clearly pushed too hard.

And she had to be careful, too, because there was that whisper just beneath the surface of her skin that wanted him for herself. Which was not what anyone needed right now.