“Not if I reunite the soul with your body.” Hana wrenched free from his grasp and stuffed the pearl into his mouth. She held him in a choke hold and tried to cover his nose and mouth with her free hand to force him to swallow.

“Stand clear!” Sora said to Hana as she hurled two throwing stars at Prince Gin’s eyes.

Thwack, thwack.

He tried to scream, but Hana kept her hand over his nose and mouth.

Even without oxygen or Sight, though, Prince Gin swiped at her. Hana held on as tightly as she could while shifting onto his back at an awkward angle for him to reach.

Hana gasped. “He’s healing.” Zomuri’s gift of invincibility worked quickly; the skin around Prince Gin’s eyes began to mend itself. The eye sockets spit out Sora’s throwing stars, which fell to the balcony floor with a clatter. The whites of his eyeballs swirled like clouds, stitching themselves back into spheres. “He’ll be able to see again any second!”

Sora advanced with her sword out. “This is for Mama.”

She plunged the blade into Prince Gin’s belly.

“Aghhh!” His shriek of pain broke through the seal Hana had on his mouth. The gold pearl flew out.

At the same time, his eyes reabsorbed the blood. Prince Gin’s pupils shone black, clear, and newly refocused.

He roared in fury.

“Now I’ve got you.” His ryuu magic snatched Hana off his back. He grabbed her by the throat and yanked Sora’s sword from his belly.

Prince Gin sneered at Sora. “I’m the greatest ruler Kichona will ever know. You really thought you could defeat me by making me swallow the pearl?”

The wound in his stomach closed. Other than the tear in his tunic, there was no evidence he’d been harmed.

“No, I didn’t,” Sora said.

He looked quickly around the balcony, trying to figure out what he’d missed. But then he moved his boot. Beneath the sole was the gold pearl Hana had tried to force upon him. His ryuu particles encircled it, and he laughed derisively. “Whatever trick you thought you pulled, you didn’t.”

Hana tried to pry his fingers off her neck. “It’s called sleight of hand, and we did pull it off.”

Sora looked pointedly at his stomach, while she touched the necklace around her throat. The pearl pendant was missing.

Prince Gin followed her gaze. “No . . .”

“Yes,” Sora said. “The pearl beneath your boot—the one that was in your mouth—was a decoy. I crammed the real pearl into your belly after I sliced you open. But now that wound is healed, and your soul is inside you again.”

He stared horrified at the tear in his tunic and the perfectly smooth skin beneath it.