Hana scrambled for the sword Sora had dislodged from her. “I have to die honorably,” she muttered.

“No!” Sora sent a wave of ryuu particles at the sword, knocking it out of Hana’s reach.

Empress Aki grabbed Hana by the back of her tunic.

But Hana shook her off easily.

Daemon’s blue glow buzzed and filled the room. Sora was already protected through their gemina bond, but now his shield enveloped Hana and Empress Aki, too.

The anger fell away from Hana’s face as the Dragon Prince’s spell lost control of her. She looked at her stomach and rubbed the cut. “What did I almost do?”

Prince Gin staggered away, his back against the tower wall.

Sora wanted to run to Hana and hug her, but they needed to deal with Prince Gin first. “You’re outnumbered,” she said.

He didn’t look at her, though. Instead, he turned to his sister. “Go ahead and kill me. It’s what you’ve wanted from the start.”

Empress Aki took a step forward. “No, it isn’t,” she said. “I wanted Kichona at peace, and I wanted my brother with me, helping me to rule.”

“You never would have shared power.”

“I offered it to you when Father died; your memory is selective. I would have been happy to lead our kingdom together. It’s the Cult of the Evermore and your pursuit of empire that I would never subscribe to.”

Prince Gin looked around the tower, as if assessing whether he had any chance of escape. But Daemon put a quick end to that speculation by taking away gravity’s hold on the prince, and the Dragon Prince floated up until he was pinned against the ceiling.

“Put me down!” he said, thrashing.

“It’s over,” Sora said.

“My ryuu will be here any minute.”

“No, they won’t,” Daemon said. “There is more than one demigod like me, and they’re out there now, capturing your army.”

Sora wasn’t sure if he was bluffing. She thought she’d seen only him and Liga. Were there really more of his brothers and sisters out there?

“Demigod . . . That’s what you are?” Prince Gin’s entire body slumped, his arms and legs dangling uselessly in the air.

“Yes, and my father will see to it that all the souls you damned will be redeemed.”

“Vespre conducted the purification ritual?” Sora cried. Joy and relief rose tentatively in her chest. “You convinced him?”

“I struck a deal,” Daemon said, suddenly refusing to look at her.

Hana let out a small gasp of understanding. “That was the secret you hid from us before you left.”

The relief Sora had momentarily felt now vanished. “Daemon . . . what did you do?”

“What I had to. He tried to cast me away as soon as I showed up, but I made him listen by offering the only thing he truly wanted of me. I promised to live in Celestae—”