“Hana—Virtuoso—has him,” Wolf said with a snarl.

Aki shook her head. She had hoped she could still find some strand of goodness in her brother somewhere, but after the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts, the acid torture he’d intended for her, and now this, it was clear that there was no trace of the boy she used to consider her best friend. Perhaps because he was literally soulless, or perhaps he’d lost his conscience long before that. Either way, her twin brother was gone.

She looked at Spirit, the once fearless leader of this mischievous crew, crumpled like a wet handkerchief. “Mama . . . Papa . . . We have to save him . . . ,” Spirit whispered between sobs.

“You’re prisoners, too,” Aki said, understanding.

Wolf’s eyes flashed as he saw her face. “Your Majesty! What happened?”

A bitter sadness prickled Aki as she touched the remnants of the acid blisters on her cheek. “My brother.”

“I’m so sorry.” Wolf cast his eyes downward. “You’ve been imprisoned and tortured. Kichona has fallen. And Prince Gin has apparently already taken Thoma and their tsarina. We let you down, Your Majesty, in every way possible.”

The confession hung in the humid air of the grotto.

But Aki shook it off. “Don’t you dare say that.” Even though she was filthy from being in this waterfall prison, she was imposing, too. She was born to lead, and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

“The three of you have done more than any three taigas in our kingdom’s history,” Aki said. “You should be proud of that. I know you’re feeling hopeless, and you should take whatever time you need to grieve.”

Spirit looked up, the usual light in her eyes now dim.

Aki gave her a sad smile. “But when you’re ready,” she said kindly, “let’s be angry—for your parents, for the Society, for our kingdom under my brother’s rule. You are my League of Rogues, and you don’t quit. Defeat only makes you fight harder, and we have a great deal to fight for. We’ll make my brother pay for what he’s done.”

Chapter Fifty-Two

Daemon was angry all right.

No, not just angry. Pissed.

They were once part of a glorious society of warriors, living in a beautiful, peaceful kingdom. And now they were reduced to this—an empress and three apprentice warriors, imprisoned in an underground waterfall.

But worst of all was Sora shivering in Daemon’s arms, sobbing. The devastation over her mother’s death and the worry over her father had smothered his bold, fearless gemina’s will to fight back.

He wiped away a stream of Sora’s tears with his sleeve.

“I failed everybody,” she said.

“You did not,” Daemon said. “If it weren’t for you, we’d all already be dead.”