I froze when Lennox hissed into my hair, “Did you think I was going to let you be the victor here, Anna? Do you truly believe you are the one destined to break the curse? You, a girl from the gutter who never deserved to be warden with the likes of my brother. You shouldn’t even be here.”

I didn’t reply. But I thought on the past, when he had defeated me for Hereswith. When he had stolen my home, all because I had hesitated.

I stared at phantom Anna, whose eyes slid to Lennox as he held me roughly against him. Behind her, the balcony doors sat open, eerily as if they had been left that way a century ago. The sun was just beginning to rise, the mountains incandescent with gold.

And I dared to spin and turn, risking the dagger he held at my side. It cut through my dress; I felt the blade bite my side, but I forgot the pain as I cast a repelling spell at him with deadly accuracy.

Lennox was blown off his feet, hurled up and away to the other side of the room. He slammed into the wall and for one wild moment, I thought I had killed him. I only felt a tiny bit of remorse.

He slid to the floor with a grimace, his eyes shining with fury as he charged again. I dodged the spell he spouted at me; I effortlessly danced around the green fire he created, and we met in a clash that robbed our balance.

On the cold, bloodstained floor, I struggled to slow him down. Because he was crawling to reach Anna, and it was a race to break the nightmare before the sun did. The light was creeping ever closer through the window and doors, and I bared my teeth and dragged Lennox by the ankle back to me. Among the scrambling, I thought I saw the glistening of bones, lurking beneath the duke’s bed. As if a skeleton had been swept beneath it.

Lennox was dazed, but he fought me until I disarmed him. I flung his dagger away and held my blade at his throat.

“Anna . . . ,” he whispered, suddenly trembling. “Anna, think of Phelan. He will come to hate you if you wound me.”

“Wound you?” I taunted.

“You mean to kill me?”

I stared at him, but from the corner of my eye, I watched as the sunlight inched closer to where Anna stood. She was becoming transparent, about to melt away.

“Do you know I swore allegiance to your mother?” I asked, pressing my dagger deeper into his neck, just to see him squirm beneath me. He let out a yelp when a bead of blood welled. “You fool! I’m fighting on your family’s behalf, but if you get in my way again . . . I won’t hesitate to cut you down.”