Zomuri laughed, as if dealing with a less than diligent student. “Go back and study your books, Gin, and you will find the answer.”

The Dragon Prince took a moment to pull himself together. But then he shook away his shock and asked, “What happens if I give you my soul instead?”

“I haven’t decided yet. But that’s a risk you’re going to have to take.” Zomuri rubbed his hands together in malicious glee. “There is, however, a third option—you achieve the Evermore and you never die. If you do this, your body will live freely and forever in paradise, while your soul merely looks pretty in my treasure vault. This gives you even more incentive to make sure you achieve what you’ve set out to do. But I am finished with this discussion. Do you accept my offer or not?”

“No,” Sora whispered, sick to her stomach. If Zomuri made him invincible, Prince Gin couldn’t be killed. There was no way Sora would be able to save Kichona, even if they did find Empress Aki. Everyone would become a puppet of the prince. Pawns on the front lines of his wars. Marching toward their deaths without even realizing they were at the ends of their lives.

Daemon stood motionless, as horrified as Sora was.

Prince Gin took a long moment to consider Zomuri’s offer. On the one hand, there was invincibility. On the other hand, there was the risk of a cruel god’s whim.

But in the end, Prince Gin must have either thought it was worth the gamble or had immense confidence in his own abilities if he were both a ryuu and invincible because he said, “You are a shrewd negotiator, my lord. I accept. I offer you my soul.”

Zomuri grinned, baring his gold teeth and the dried blood on his lips, likely from the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts.

“We have to get to Prince Gin now,” Daemon said to Sora. Their gemina bond burned violet with fear. “We have to stop this before it begins.” He grabbed the door handles.

Sora threw her arms around Daemon to pull him back, to keep him quiet. “That’s the Dragon Prince and the most vicious god in the realm in there! If we charge in like this, we’re dead. And then Empress Aki and all the brainwashed taigas might as well be dead, too, because we’re the only ones left to save them.”

Zomuri plunged his hand down the prince’s throat, so far that his arm seemed to disappear. Prince Gin’s eyes bugged, and his body convulsed.

Sora stood frozen as the improbable unfolded before her.

A few seconds later, Zomuri yanked his arm from the prince’s throat. He held what looked like a small gold pearl.

“To safety, in my vault,” he said to the soul pearl. In a puff of smoke, it disappeared, magicked away.