He could still feel the doubt from the Lake of Nightmares inside him, but Broomstick was also beginning to suspect that there wasn’t water in his lungs. It was possible his friends and the empress were right. Maybe everyone had the potential for evil, but it was a choice whether to succumb or to fight it.

Fairy nudged him. “We should get out of here. If the ryuu aren’t already waiting for us outside, they’ll be there soon.”

“Right, let’s go,” Broomstick said, turning and crawling toward the exit.

As they got closer to the part of the tunnel that Broomstick had blown apart, they had to watch for shrapnel from the rocks. By the time they got to the exit, he had several shards embedded in his palms.

Broomstick poked his head out of the opening to check for ryuu.

“Coast is clear,” he said, waving them on. He climbed out first, then offered his hand to help the others.

Fairy and Empress Aki came out and clung to the steep, rocky ledge. Below, the ocean roared and spit at them. The clouds had covered up the moon again, and thick mist shrouded the night.

Then came Spirit, who looked like a phantom version of herself. Stars, what had Broomstick missed? He’d never seen Spirit this defeated. Even when the world was against them, she was their fearless leader.

Finally, Wolf emerged in boy form.

“What happened to Spirit?” Broomstick asked quietly as he pulled Wolf out of the tunnel.

“Prince Gin killed her mother in front of her, and now Hana has their father captive.”

“Good gods.”

“Yeah.”

Empress Aki interrupted them, pointing into the fog. “Is that a ship over there?”

“Nines,” Wolf said. “We killed Skullcrusher and Skeleton, so how are their navies still working?”

“They shouldn’t be,” Fairy said. “But Tidepool is here, too. Maybe she’s behind this ship.”

It sailed quickly toward them, no doubt investigating the source of the explosions.

“Gods dammit.” Broomstick had led his friends and the empress here, to perch precariously on a ledge with nowhere to go but back into their prison or up over the top of the rock, which was a good ten-foot climb.

They were sitting ducks.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Sora stared at the ship cutting through the fog.

Daemon touched her shoulder. “Sora? We need you.”

“I . . .”

“You’ve been through something terrible. And I know you need time, but . . . I’m sorry. We can’t do this without you. You have to make us all invisible.”

Sora shook her head. “I—I don’t know if I can concentrate enough to command the ryuu particles. All I can think of is Papa and Mama.”

Daemon’s entire face softened, and he smiled kindly. “Then think about them. Remember what your mother said to you during the Autumn Festival when we were visiting? What did she tell you to be?”